Breaking the Cycle
by JayColin
Summary: SLASH AU Rocky/OC, Tommy/Adam, Jason/Billy - A new kid arrives in Angel Grove and befriends the rangers, but he's got a secret that he doesn't initially share with them. Will they be able to handle it or will they reject him? Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Breaking the Cycle  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all related material is the property of Saban and/or Disney. I claim no ownership to it and am not making any money from this story. The only thing about this story that I own are the characters, places, and storylines not featured on the show.

Summary: A new kid arrives in Angel Grove and befriends the rangers, but he's got a secret that he doesn't initially share with them. Will they be able to handle it or will they reject him?

Pairings: Rocky/OC, Tommy/Adam, Jason/Billy

Author's Note: This story is set in an alternate universe in which the International Teen Peace Summit happened before the arrival of Lord Zedd and thus Rocky, Adam, and Aisha replaced Jason, Zack, and Trini while Rita Repulsa was still the enemy. There may be other differences as well, but, you'll have to read the story to find out what those are. The story is rated for future chapters.

-o-0-o-

Chapter One

-o-0-o-

Seventeen-year-old Zaidan Prince looked around as he entered the Angel Grove Youth Center Gym and Juice Bar. From what he'd overheard at school, this was where most of the other people his age hung out when they weren't at school. Zaidan had never had many friends growing up, so, the thought of maybe forging a few friendships now was something that he wanted to try at least. Of course, he was the new kid in school, so, he wasn't sure if that was even possible. It had been his experience that a lot of people loved to pick on the new kid and never give them a chance. It was one of the reasons why Zaidan had moved around so much - he'd attended seven different high schools in three years - all because he just never seemed to be able to fit in. He hoped that it would be different here in Angel Grove.

Taking a seat at the bar, Zaidan picked up a menu and perused it for a moment before a heavyset man in a Hawaiian shirt asked, "You're new around here aren't you?"

Zaidan nodded. "Yes, today was my first day at AG High. My name is Zaidan Prince."

"Zaidan," the man repeated. "Interesting name. Unique. Anyway, I'm Ernie and I own this place - welcome to Angel Grove. Now, can I get you anything?"

Glancing at the menu again, Zaidan said, "A strawberry mango smoothie."

"Nice choice," Ernie said. "Anything else?"

"No, that should do for now."

"Okay then, one smoothie coming up," Ernie said with a smile, as he turned away and began making Zaidan's drink.

"Hey, new kid," said a voice. "You're in my seat."

"Yeah, you're in his seat," another voice piped in, as Zaidan turned around and saw who he'd learned at school were two of the school bullies, Bulk and Skull.

Raising an eyebrow, Zaidan said, "Really? Because I didn't see your name written on it."

"It looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson," Bulk said, as he puffed himself up and Zaidan couldn't help but think he looked like a blowfish.

"Yeah, teach him a lesson, Bulk," Skull said.

Zaidan rolled his eyes and said, "If you want to humiliate yourself, then, by all means, go right ahead and teach me a lesson."

"I warn you, I know karate," Bulk said, as he adopted a look that Zaidan assumed was supposed to be menacing. It didn't faze him though. The one advantage of attending seven different high schools in three years was that he'd dealt with more bullies than he could count on both hands.

"Oh, really, am I supposed to be scared?" Zaidan asked.

Instead of commenting, Bulk tried to use some very slow and clunky karate-like moves on Zaidan, which he easily dodged. It was quite clear that Bulk's so-called karate skills were nothing more than him trying to imitate others who were actually skilled in the art and in Zaidan's opinion, he was doing a very piss poor job of it. He highly doubted that Bulk ever had even ten minutes of formal training in his life.

"You call that karate?" Zaidan said. "Let me show you how it's really done."

Taking a few steps back, Zaidan launched into an impressive kata, moving so fast that Bulk and Skull started to get dizzy just watching him. Finishing his routine, Zaidan said, "Now, leave me alone, Bulk, Skull - you're so far out of your league it isn't even funny."

"Ah, yeah, we'll just be going now," Bulk said, before he hightailed it out of the room, with Skull following close behind.

Sitting back down on the stool he'd been sitting on before the two idiots showed up, Zaidan pulled some of his homework out of his backpack and started doing it while he waited for Ernie to finish making his drink. He didn't have to wait long, before Ernie placed it in front of him and said, "Here you are, Zaidan, enjoy. And good work with Bulk and Skull."

"Thanks," Zaidan said, as he grabbed the glass and took a sip. Smiling he said, "This is delicious. If all your other fare is as good as this, you've just gotten a new regular."

"Well, I try," Ernie said with a smile, before he went off to take another customer's order.

"That was a very impressive display," said another voice.

Turning to see the source of the voice, Zaidan was glad he had set his glass down or he was sure he would have dropped it in shock. For standing in front of him was what had to be one of the most gorgeous men he'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. He felt himself getting hard almost instantly and quickly began to picture one of his new teachers, Ms. Applebee, naked in order to avoid embarrassing himself. He had, after all, picked out a pair of jeans that morning that, while they didn't interfere with his ability to pull off the kata he'd just done, would have left absolutely nothing to the imagination if he didn't reverse the course of his hardening member quickly.

Tall and nicely built, with short brown hair, the newcomer was wearing a pair of black jeans and a red sleeveless t-shirt that was so tight, Zaidan almost thought that the guy had just dyed his skin red. Not that he was complaining, as it gave him some of the best eye candy he'd ever had, but then, considering that they were in a public place, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. _**'Calm down, Zaidan,'**_ he thought, _**'before you embarrass yourself. Yeah, he's hot, but if you want to make friends, you can't scare them all away by letting your hormones do the thinking for you.'**_

"Thanks," Zaidan said with a genuine smile.

"I'm Rocky," the man said. "You're new in school aren't you?"

"Yeah, today was my first day. I'm Zaidan."

"Zaidan - well, that's certainly an interesting name," Rocky said. "I don't think I've ever heard it before."

"Yeah, it is pretty unique," Zaidan agreed.

"My friends and I were wondering if you'd like to join us?" Rocky asked. "Most of us are into martial arts as well."

"Most?" Zaidan asked.

"Well, Kim is more into gymnastics," Rocky explained.

"Ah, that's cool," and then with a smile, Zaidan said, "Sure, why not? Just give me a minute to gather my stuff."

Rocky smiled and nodded, as Zaidan turned in his seat and gathered up his homework, which he quickly placed in his backpack. Grabbing his drink, Zaidan stood up and slung his backpack over his left shoulder and nodded to Rocky, who then led him over to a large table where several other people were sitting.

"Everyone this is Zaidan," Rocky said after he grabbed an extra chair from a nearby empty table for Zaidan before sitting back down. Zaidan was happy to see that he'd be sitting next to the brown-haired god of his dreams.

"You have some really good moves, Zaidan," a black-haired Korean boy, who was dressed from head to toe in black, said. "I'm Adam."

"I'm Kimberly," said the perky pink-clad girl that Zaidan was sure was a cheerleader. "But you can call me Kim."

"I'm Aisha," said the short, yellow wearing African-American girl.

"Billy," said the blond guy who was wearing glasses and dressed in blue.

"And I'm Tommy," said the long-haired guy clad in white.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Zaidan said with a smile. Looking down at his own stonewashed jeans and purple t-shirt, he grinned and said, "We've got practically every color of the rainbow here, don't we?"

The others all laughed and Rocky said, "Yeah, we're a colorful bunch, all right."

"So, Zaidan, you certainly seem to have a good grasp on martial arts," Adam said. "How long have you been studying them?"

Zaidan smiled. "Would you believe since I was four?"

"Wow," Rocky said. "I didn't start until I was eight."

"I was ten when I started," Tommy said. "Those moves you pulled off were pretty amazing though. Have you ever tried teaching?"

"Once or twice," Zaidan said. "Until recently, though, I tended to move around quite a bit and that made any kind of long-term teaching almost impossible."

"Where are some of the other places you've lived?" Billy asked.

"New York City, Boston, Miami, and St. Louis," Zaidan said. "Spent a few months in Silver Hills before moving to San Francisco and finally here."

"Why so many places?" Aisha asked. "Are you a military brat or something?"

"No, I'm all alone, actually," Zaidan answered. "My mother died when I was thirteen."

"I'm so sorry," Kim said. "What about your father?"

"He died before I was born," Zaidan answered, hoping that nobody would catch that he was actually lying through his teeth. Everything else he'd said was true, but his father, well, he really didn't want to go there and found it easiest to just pretend that he was dead. It wasn't always easy everything considered but Zaidan knew that his mother wouldn't want him to live in the past. If the opportunity presented itself to bring his father to justice, he'd take it, but until then, he was going to do his best to put the bad memories out of his mind.

"You didn't have any relatives that you could live with?" Tommy asked.

"No, none," Zaidan said. "That's actually why I was moving around so much. I didn't want to become a ward of the state, so, I never stayed in one place long enough for anyone who could call child protective services to find out that I didn't have parents. My mom left me with a sizeable inheritance, so, I could afford to take care of myself and I wanted it to stay that way."

"So, you're on the run?" Adam asked.

"No, not anymore," Zaidan replied. "Shortly after moving to Cali, I petitioned a judge for emancipation. Once the judge saw that my parents were dead and I was doing fine on my own, he granted my petition. The only difference between me and most other emancipated teens is that I don't need parental permission for anything. Most other teens in my place would still need it for certain things, like getting married before they turn eighteen. Not that I intend to do that, but I could if I wanted to."

"So you're legally an adult?" Rocky asked.

"Yeah, technically, I am," Zaidan said. "Although I'm still required to go to school. Not that I mind that though, because I've never had a problem with school. Which is a good thing, because having attended seven different high schools, my grades would probably have been abysmal if I wasn't a good student. As it was, I never had much of a problem catching up whenever I changed schools."

"Man, seven different high schools," Tommy said. "Must have been very hard to make friends."

Zaidan nodded and said, "Yeah, it wasn't easy. I think of all the cities I lived in though, New York and San Francisco were the worst, because the vast majority of my classmates had their own little groups and were not interested in trying to befriend the new guy. They just saw me as the outsider who wasn't worth their time."

"Well, maybe it's because they're bigger cities," Adam said, "but, Angel Grove is smaller and more tight-knit."

"Yeah, you seem like a cool guy," Rocky said, as he thought, _**'Not to mention totally hot,'**_ as he tried not to be obvious about checking out Zaidan's lean, muscular body, wavy blond hair, or boyish good looks. Rocky didn't usually think of purple as being a guy's color, but it suited Zaidan very well, perhaps because it brought out his eyes, which were violet-colored. _**'I've never seen someone with violet eyes before, but, Zaidan certainly pulls it off well,'**_ Rocky thought._**'Of course, I need to control myself, because he's more than likely straight and I don't stand a chance. Still, looking doesn't hurt, as long as I don't get caught.'**_

_**'They so have the hots for each other,'**_ Kim thought as she looked at Zaidan and Rocky. _**'Damn it. Why do all the cute guys have to be gay?'**_ She still remembered when Tommy Oliver showed up in Angel Grove and how she was immediately smitten with him - the only problem was he preferred men, as evidenced by his now nearly four-month relationship with Adam. _**'Still, he's a good friend,'**_ Kim thought of Tommy, _**'and I have to admit, him and Adam do make a cute couple.'**_

"Yeah, you'll find most people here are willing to make a new friend," Aisha said. "As Rocky said, you seem cool and those moves you showed off to Bulk and Skull were amazing. I want to get to know you better if only to learn them."

Zaidan smiled. "Well, I'd be happy to teach them to you," as he thought, _**'I'm sure Sensei wouldn't mind. Thanks to dear old dad,'**_ even in his thoughts, the moniker was said with quite a bit of venom and sarcasm, _**'I'm the last person alive who is trained in the style he created.'**_

"Some of those moves didn't look like standard karate," Adam commented.

"Well, that's because some of them weren't," Zaidan said. "My Sensei created his own style which took elements from several other styles and blended them into a completely new one, while also adding in some unique elements all his own."

"What is the style called?" Tommy asked.

"He never did give it a name," Zaidan answered. "It was just his signature style that he created mostly for himself, although he did teach a few others, myself included. Sensei said my elder brother was about a year away from becoming a grand master."

"Elder brother?" Kim asked with a confused look. "I thought you said you didn't have any other family?"

"I don't," Zaidan said. "My brother was in the car with my mother and Sensei coming home from a tournament - none of them survived the accident." Okay, so, that wasn't how they really died, but explaining the truth would have meant revealing quite a bit more than what Zaidan was comfortable with at the present time. He could only hope that if the time did eventually come for him to tell these people the truth, they'd understand why he hadn't been honest. He hated lying, but, sometimes a lie is more believable than the truth and this was most definitely one of those times. _**'I want to make friends, after all,'**_ Zaidan thought. _**'I tell them the truth and they'll probably think I'm certifiably insane and want nothing to do with me.'**_

Before anyone could say anything, Tommy's communicator beeped, drawing Zaidan's attention to the strange looking watch on the guy's wrist. This was followed up by the realization that all six of his new acquaintances were wearing an identical watch. _**'Doesn't look like any watch I've ever seen, but, what else could it be?'**_

"I'm sorry to run out on you like this, Zaidan," Tommy said as he and his friends got up, "but we have to go. We have a previous engagement to get to - I set my watch to tell us when it was time to leave."

"No problem," Zaidan said, sensing that there was more to it than what Tommy was saying. Of course, he wasn't being totally honest with them, so, it only made sense that they wouldn't be totally honest with him either. After all, they had just met. It was hardly the time for a heart to heart in which they revealed all of their deepest secrets.

"I'm sorry about your loss," Rocky said, as he squeezed Zaidan's shoulder, glad to have been given an excuse to touch the boy.

Zaidan smiled. "Thanks Rocky, it's not your fault though, so you have nothing to apologize for. It's still hard sometimes, but, I'm getting over it. Anyway, you guys go and do what you have to do. If I'm not here when you get done, well, I'm sure we'll see each other at school tomorrow."

"Cool," Adam said with a smile, as he and the others left. Once they were gone, Zaidan ordered another smoothie, before he pulled his homework back out of his backpack and got to work.

Later that night, as Zaidan stripped out of his clothes and got into bed, he couldn't help but smile. All in all, it had been a good day. While the others hadn't gotten back before Zaidan decided to head home, he was confident that he could become friends with them. They all seemed cool and quite a bit more welcoming than any of his classmates at his previous schools. It seemed a bit odd to be thanking the school bullies for anything, but, in this case, Zaidan couldn't help it. If it hadn't been for his little demonstration to Bulk and Skull, he wasn't sure the others would have noticed him. Well, that probably wasn't true, as Zaidan found out that the juice bar often held tournaments that he most likely would have entered, so, it may have taken longer, but he was glad it had happened sooner rather than later.

-o-0-o-

The next morning, Zaidan woke up and while a part of him scolded himself for doing it, he jacked off to thoughts of Rocky in the shower. The other boy was really the perfect example of what Zaidan considered his dream man - at least outwardly. He didn't really know Rocky well enough to know if the boy's personality also fit his perception of the perfect man. _**'Damn it, Z, will you listen to yourself?'**_ he thought as he walked into his bedroom and pulled on a pair of black and gray striped bikini briefs, _**'You don't even know if Rocky likes men. If he doesn't that would certainly be a big point against him being your dream man.'**_

Sitting down on the bed, Zaidan pulled on a pair of black socks, followed by a pair of black jeans, before standing up and walking over to his closet. Scanning the contents of his closet, he thought, _**'I really should go shopping and buy some more clothes that aren't purple. It might be my favorite color, but that doesn't mean I have to wear it exclusively.'**_

Grabbing a white t-shirt from his closet, Zaidan pulled it on and despite his previous thoughts, he then chose a purple button down shirt which he pulled on over the t-shirt, leaving it unbuttoned and rolling up the sleeves. Checking himself out in the mirror to make sure his hair looked okay, Zaidan then headed into the kitchen to have some breakfast. It was then that he noticed the light on the answering machine blinking to signal that someone had called. He didn't get many phone calls, as a general rule, so he didn't often check the machine.

Pressing the play button as he got out a bowl for cereal, Zaidan listened as the machine said, "You have one new message," before a male voice said, "Mr. Prince this is John Taylor from Taylor and Evans in New York. I need to speak to you regarding your late mother's accounts, in person, as soon as possible. Please call my office as soon as you get this message - I'll be in the office until 10, otherwise, I'll be in from 9 to 5 tomorrow."

Taylor and Evans was a trust company in New York where all of his mother's assets were held. They also managed a vault which contained some expensive family heirlooms that she had managed to secret away from his greedy bastard of a father who would have taken them all for himself and left his mother with nothing. Looking at the clock, Zaidan saw that it was only 6:30 in the morning in Angel Grove, but with the four hour time difference, it was 10:30 in New York. Pulling out his wallet, Zaidan took out the business card with John's private line on it and picked up the phone.

It was answered on the third ring. "John Taylor."

"Mr. Taylor, this is Zaidan Prince. I just got your message."

"Ah Mr. Prince, thank you for calling," John said and Zaidan could hear papers shuffling in the background, before John said, "I have in front of me a judge's order saying that you've been emancipated in California, is that correct?"

"Yes, as of three months ago," Zaidan answered.

"You should have contacted me, Mr. Prince," John said. "Since your mother is dead and you're the only heir who is now legally an adult, I need you to come in and sign some papers to transfer some of the accounts into your name. The majority will still be in trust, but a sizeable chunk will now be in your name."

"Well, obviously I have school," Zaidan said. "So, this weekend would be the earliest I could get there."

"We're not normally open for business on Saturdays and Sundays," John said, "however, due to the size of your mother's accounts, I can make an exception."

"Okay, well, can I get back to you later today?" Zaidan asked. "It's only 6:30 in the morning here and I need to eat breakfast and then get to school. I don't really have time right now to make flight and hotel arrangements."

"I can have my secretary make them for you, Mr. Prince," John said. "And then she can call and leave the information on your machine for you."

"That would be great, Mr. Taylor, thanks," Zaidan said.

"Not a problem," John said. "Have a good day at school and I'll see you on Saturday."

"Okay, thanks, Mr. Taylor," Zaidan said as he hung up and resumed making himself a bowl of cereal. Pouring himself a glass of apple juice, Zaidan then sat down at the kitchen table and ate his breakfast.

_'So, my mother's assets are going to be in my name now?'_ he thought. _'I suppose it's time I have a look in the vault and see exactly what mom managed to save. She never did tell me what exactly was in the vault, just that it would be managed by Taylor and Evans.'_

Finishing his breakfast, Zaidan stood and rinsed his dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. Making sure he had everything he needed, he then grabbed his backpack and headed out to the garage. Grabbing his helmet, Zaidan put it on before getting on his motorcycle, a Ducati Monster 900. Within minutes, he was on his way to school. Pulling into the student parking lot, Zaidan parked in a spot next to the fence and chained his cycle to it, which was a precaution he'd started taking ever since it was almost stolen in San Francisco.

Luckily for him, he'd parked on the edge of the student lot that adjoined with the staff lot that day and had arrived at the school at the same time as one of the campus police officers, who was a motorcycle aficionado, resulting in the two of them talking about Zaidan's bike for five minutes. Thus when the officer went on his lunch break and headed out to his car to go and get something to eat, he knew something was wrong when he caught someone who wasn't Zaidan trying to push the motorcycle up a ramp into the back of an unmarked, windowless van. The would-be thief soon found himself headed to jail for attempted robbery and it was later found out that he'd stolen numerous other motorcycles all over town, selling the parts to chop shops in order to support his crystal meth addiction.

Focused on securing his bike, he didn't pay much attention to the Jeep that pulled into the spot next to him, until a familiar voice said, "Hey Zaidan, nice bike."

Looking up, Zaidan smiled as Rocky, Adam, and Tommy climbed out of the Jeep. "Thanks, Rocky."

"Afraid someone's going to steal it?" Adam asked, as Zaidan finished securing his bike.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Zaidan said, before he explained to the three teens how it had almost been stolen in San Francisco. "So, ever since then, I don't take any chances and keep it chained when it's going to be out in the open for a long period. I also had an alarm installed and have special locks on the wheels so that it can only be driven in circles."

Tommy nodded. "Well, I don't blame you for being cautious. That would have sucked to have it stolen from the school parking lot."

"Yeah, good thing that campus officer was around," Rocky said. "We have a couple of security guards here, but, Angel Grove is too small I guess to have uniformed campus police."

"Tommy and I teach a martial arts class at the youth center," Adam said, as the four of them headed towards the building. "We'd love to have you as a guest teacher at our next class, Zaidan."

"I'd love to," Zaidan said with a smile. "When is it?"

"The next class is on Saturday," Tommy answered.

Zaidan's smile fell, as he said, "Oh, well, in that case I can't make it. I have to fly to New York on Saturday to sign some papers at the trust company that manages my mother's assets. If it was any other day, I'd gladly do it."

"That's cool, we understand," Adam said. "We also have a class on Sunday afternoon."

"Well, I might be able to make that one," Zaidan said. "I'm not sure yet. The secretary of my mother's account manager is making my flight and hotel reservations for me and is going to leave a message on my machine at home about the details. With school on Monday, I'm sure I'll be back in time, but I don't want to commit to anything until I know for sure."

Tommy nodded, as he pulled a notebook out of his backpack, along with a pen, and wrote down both his and Adam's phone numbers. Tearing the page out and handing it to Zaidan, he said, "Well, here's Adam's and my numbers. Just call and let us know. The Sunday class is at 2:30pm."

"Okay, will do," Zaidan said.

At this point, Adam and Tommy said their goodbyes and headed over to talk to Billy, while Rocky stayed with Zaidan. After a moment of silence, Rocky asked, "You need a ride to the airport on Saturday?"

"I figured I'd just take my car and store it in the lot for the day," Zaidan answered.

"You have a car, too?" Rocky asked.

Zaidan smiled and nodded. "Yeah, as I said, my mom left me with a sizeable inheritance and the trust company has done a good job in managing it, so, it's grown since she passed away."

"What kind of car?"

"A Jaguar XK8 convertible," Zaidan replied. "I figured, you only live once, if you've got it, spend it."

"Nice," Rocky said. "Aren't you worried about running out of money though?"

"No," Zaidan said. "The majority of my mother's assets are held in a trust that I can't touch until I'm 30. The papers I have to go sign will be putting a sizeable amount of it into my name, but, not all of it."

"So, how much are you actually worth?"

"All told, about 35 million," Zaidan responded. "That's in cash. It might be more, but I don't know. The trust company also manages a vault that my mother stashed some family heirlooms in, but she never told me what was in it, so I have no clue what's in it or what the value might be."

"Wow," Rocky said. "Why are you going to public school if you're so wealthy?"

" I tried attending an exclusive prep school while I lived in Silver Hills," Zaidan said. "Really didn't like it though. For the most part, all the rich kids got on my nerves. While I do have money and I like having nice things, I don't really enjoy bragging about how much money I have which is basically what all my classmates at the prep school wanted to do day in and day out. If the conversation didn't relate to the size of their bank accounts, they weren't interested."

"If you want," Rocky said, "I can drive you to the airport and pick you up. Then you wouldn't have to leave your car in the airport lot over night, as I assume you're going to be there overnight since you mentioned hotel accommodations."

"Well, I usually don't like parking my car outside overnight," Zaidan said. "But I don't want to inconvenience you, Rocky."

"It's fine, Zaidan," Rocky said. "I wouldn't have offered if it was going to inconvenience me too much. I'm not really doing anything this weekend, so, it's not a problem."

"In that case, sure, you can drive me to the airport. Thanks, Rocky, I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Rocky said. Of course, he had ulterior motives. Angel Grove wasn't big enough to have its own international airport, so, that meant the closest one was LAX - which was an hour and a half drive down the coast. Spending that time alone with Zaidan in the car would give them both time to get to know each other better and Rocky was really looking forward to it.

-o-0-o-

After school, Zaidan met up with Tommy, Adam, Billy, Rocky, Kimberly, and Aisha on the way out to the school parking lot.

"So, Zaidan, do you want to join us at the youth center?" Aisha asked.

"I can't," Zaidan answered. "I have to get home, check my answering machine and pack a bag. I need to fly to New York on Saturday to sign some papers at the trust company that manages my mother's accounts. The account manager's secretary is making my flight and hotel reservations, hence checking my machine."

"Oh, okay," Aisha said. "Some other time perhaps."

As they reached the parking lot and Zaidan began unchaining his bike, he looked up and asked, "Hey, why don't you guys come over to my house? It shouldn't take long for me to pack, I'm only going overnight. Then we could enjoy my pool or shoot some hoops."

"That sounds fun," Kimberly said. "I'd just have to go home and get my suit."

The others nodded that they'd all have to do that as well and Zaidan said, "Okay, well, my address is 1987 Ocean View Terrace."

"Ocean View Terrace?" Billy asked. "That's in the affluent section of the city."

"Zaidan here is rich," Rocky said with a grin. "We're talking millionaire - several times over."

"Well, my mother was rich," Zaidan clarified. "The majority of the money is held in trust until I turn 30, but I have enough that I can enjoy a comfortable lifestyle."

"Comfortable?" Adam asked. "I've seen the houses on Ocean View Terrace. Luxurious would be the better term."

Zaidan shrugged and said, "Well, the invitations there if you want. I'd like to get to know you all better and I figure we can do that better at my place. Less crowded. Plus, since I live in a gated community that has a guard on duty twenty-four seven, we don't have to worry about the peanut gallery showing up."

"Peanut gallery?" Tommy asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Bulk and Skull," Zaidan clarified.

Everyone laughed at that, as Rocky said, "Well, I'm in."

"Sounds like fun," Adam agreed. "Tommy and I will be there."

"We're in," Aisha and Kimberly said in unison.

"Billy?" Zaidan asked.

The blond-haired teen remained silent for a moment, until finally Tommy clapped him on the back and said, "Come on, Billy, it'll be fun. I know you miss Jase, but he wouldn't want you to mope around and have no fun just because he isn't here."

"Jase?" Zaidan asked, unfamiliar with the name.

"Jason Scott," Adam clarified. "He's Billy's boyfriend, but he and two of our other friends, Zack and Trini, left for Geneva, Switzerland three weeks ago. They were chosen to represent Angel Grove at the International Teen Peace Summit."

"Oh, that's cool," Zaidan said. "Come on, Billy. If my pool doesn't sound like fun, then maybe you'd enjoy my computer? It's a state of the art system that I think I can safely guarantee surpasses anything you've ever seen before."

"That does sound intriguing," Billy said. "Okay, count me in."

"Just don't spend all of your time messing around with Zaidan's computer," Adam said. "Go home and get your swimming trunks, because you are going to swim even if I have to push you into the pool."

"I'd suggest you do as he says, Bill," Tommy said. "He'll push you in whether you're wearing your trunks or not, but I think I can safely say you'd prefer to be wearing trunks in the pool."

"Affirmative," Billy said.

"Cool," Zaidan said, as he finished unlocking his bike and putting the chain and wheel locks in his backpack. "I'll just leave your names with the gate guard and he'll let you all in as my guests. See you soon." Pulling on his helmet, Zaidan sat astride his bike and after waving goodbye to his five companions, revved his engine for a moment before backing out of the parking spot he was in and tearing out of the lot.

-o-0-o-

Half-an-hour later, Zaidan had finished packing his overnight bag for his trip to New York. John Taylor's secretary booked him a first-class ticket on a direct flight from LAX to JFK, leaving at 10:30 on Saturday morning and arriving in New York at roughly 3:30 that afternoon. She informed him that a limousine would be waiting to take him to The Waldorf Towers where he'd been booked, much to his complete and utter shock, in the Royal Suite. John was going to come at five o'clock, giving Zaidan roughly an hour to freshen up and rest from his flight, before eating dinner with John in the suite's dining room and then signing the necessary papers.

Once that was done, John would leave and Zaidan was free to do whatever he wanted for the rest of the night. His return flight was scheduled to leave JFK at 8:45 on Sunday morning and arrive at LAX at roughly 1:45 in the afternoon. Given the hour and a half drive between Los Angeles and Angel Grove, Zaidan realized with some disappointment that he was unlikely to arrive back in time to act as guest teacher for Tommy and Adam's class. _'Oh well,'_ he thought. _'There'll be other classes.'_

Heading into the kitchen, Zaidan opened the refrigerator and made sure there was a good selection of cold drinks available, before putting together a couple of simple snacks that he and the others could munch on if they got hungry. He had just finished with his task when the doorbell rang.

"Hey guys," Zaidan said with a smile as he opened the front door to admit Tommy, Adam, Billy, and Rocky. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Humble?" Tommy asked with a raised eyebrow. "Zaidan, there is nothing humble about this place."

"Yeah, you have four garages for pity sake," Adam said as he shook his head.

"True," Zaidan said. The house was a two-story taupe Mediterranean-styled house with white accents. There were two separate two-car attached garages, one on each side of the house, roughly twenty feet from the front door. "I only use one of the bays, though, as my bike and car fit in one. I actually planned on getting something smaller originally, but this was the only property available in this community. I liked the security of a gated community with a guard on duty 24/7, so, I splurged a bit."

"Well, you have amazing taste," Rocky said. "How big is this place?"

"About 6,700 square feet," Zaidan answered. "Five bedrooms and five and a half baths, plus a media/game room upstairs."

"Is that an elevator?" Billy asked, as he noticed what looked like an elevator door near the stairs to the second floor.

"Yeah, it is," Zaidan confirmed. "I don't use it much, but I suppose it'd be nice if one had a particularly tiring day and didn't feel like climbing the stairs. Of course, in the week that I've lived here, I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually gone upstairs. The master suite is on the first floor, along with the study where I setup my computer and there's a TV in both the family room and my bedroom. The house came fully furnished, so, it's not empty upstairs, just unused."

"So, did you get that message you were waiting for?" Adam asked, as Zaidan led the group towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, I did," Zaidan said. "Unfortunately, I won't be getting back to LAX until a quarter to two on Sunday, so, I doubt I'll be able to get back in time for your class."

"That's okay," Tommy said. "We teach two on Saturdays, one on Sunday, and one on Wednesdays after school, so, you'll have other chances."

"Cool," Zaidan said. "So, where are the girls?"

As if that was their cue, the doorbell chose that moment to ring, as Adam said, "At the door, I imagine. I'll get it," before he left the room, only to come back a moment later with Kim and Aisha in tow, both of whom had looks of awe plastered on their faces.

"Damn, Zaidan," Kim said. "I know Rocky said you were a millionaire, but this place is fantastic."

"Thanks," Zaidan said with a smile. "I didn't decorate it though. As I told the guys, the house came fully furnished. I just added a few small personal touches here and there, mainly a few family photographs and, of course, my clothes."

"Considering that you have four garages and what looks like a marble floor in your dining room," Aisha said, "I hope you have good closet space."

Kim nodded and added, "Yes, a person can never have enough closet space. I wish I had more, because my closet is full to bursting."

"I think I have enough," Zaidan said with a grin. "The master bedroom has two walk-in-closets. Plus, three of the other four bedrooms have walk-ins, as well. Of course, the ones in the master suite are the largest."

"And how many of them are you using?" Kim asked, sure Zaidan would probably only say one, because he was a man.

"Both in the master," Zaidan answered. "The smaller of the two is for my shoes, which, I admit it, are my Achilles' heel."

"How many pairs do you have?" Billy asked.

"Last time I counted? Three-hundred and twenty-seven." Zaidan smiled then and added, "Obviously, I need to buy more because I don't have enough for a whole year yet." He did have enough for a year at one time, but that was before his mother died and he moved to New York.

"Three-hundred and twenty-seven?" Tommy repeated, shaking his head. "No way."

Zaidan just grinned. "Shall I prove it? I can take y'all on a quick tour of the house and you can see for yourselves. It's not like the pool is going anywhere. Besides, then you'll know where the bathrooms are, in case you need to use one."

"Seems like a good idea," Rocky said. "Lead on, Zaidan."

-o-0-o-

After giving everyone a tour of the house, everyone split up to change into their swimsuits in privacy. With five bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths, finding privacy was certainly not a problem. Standing in his closet, Zaidan went through the swimsuits he had, finally settling on a baggy pair of purple board shorts. Much like how he tended to wear bikini underwear, Zaidan usually wore Speedos in his pool. However, with Rocky around, not to mention Tommy, Adam, and Billy who were not ugly by any means, he didn't want to be wearing a swimsuit that would make his condition painfully obvious if he got hard. True, he could claim it was from seeing Kim or Aisha in a swimsuit, but, why take any chances?

After all, he didn't know what they all thought on the subject of homosexuality. He knew that Billy was probably okay with it, because when they'd mentioned their friend Jason Scott earlier, Adam had said he was Billy's boyfriend. The others didn't seem to have a problem with that fact, but if there's one thing Zaidan learned over the years it was that looks can be deceiving. Just because something appears to be true, doesn't mean that it is.

_'Better to be safe than sorry,'_ Zaidan thought as he undressed and pulled on the shorts. They were the perfect choice in Zaidan's mind. Not too loose that he'd have to worry about them falling off in the pool, but also not tight enough that a hard on would be immediately noticeable. Once he was changed, Zaidan headed back to the family room and opened the sliding glass door out onto the patio. The realtor had called it a lanai, although honestly, Zaidan didn't really see that it made any difference what he called it, as the two words meant essentially the same thing as far as he was concerned.

Walking over to the linen closet, Zaidan grabbed an armful of towels, before going outside and placing them on one of the tables. He was just turning on the hot tub jets in case anyone wanted to use it, when Tommy, Adam, and Kim came out of the house. Like Zaidan, both Adam and Tommy chose to wear board shorts, in black and white respectively, while Kim was wearing a pink two-piece bikini.

_'Hmm, they sure do seem to be attached to these colors,_' Zaidan thought, before laughing to himself and thinking, _'You're one to talk, Mr. Wearing Purple Yet Again.'_

A moment later, Billy, Aisha, and Rocky emerged from inside the house. Billy's trunks were blue with what looked like white algebraic equations written on them. From everything he'd seen of Billy so far, it didn't really shock Zaidan at all, as it just seemed to fit the blond's personality. Aisha was wearing a one piece bathing suit with a tropical flower design and Zaidan noticed without much surprise that yellow was the dominant color.

At last, however, Zaidan's eyes fell on Rocky and he was immediately glad that he had chosen not to wear his normal bikini-style Speedos, because that is exactly what Rocky had chosen to wear. Being covered only by the small amount of red fabric, Zaidan got his first really good look at Rocky's body. He'd seen his arms well at the Youth Center the day they met and his shirt had been tight enough that he could make out the six-pack underneath. But, seeing it covered by a shirt and seeing it uncovered in all its muscular glory were two entirely different things.

Not wanting to embarrass himself, Zaidan tore his eyes off of Rocky, hoping that he hadn't been too obvious in checking the red-clad man out and turned his attention to everyone.

"Well, towels are over there," Zaidan said as he pointed. "Other than that, make yourselves at home."

Everyone nodded, as Tommy, Adam, and Rocky immediately got into the pool, while Billy and the girls sat down on chaise lounges and began putting on water-proof sunscreen. Since he'd never gotten sunburn in his life, Zaidan didn't bother with sunscreen and decided to join Tommy, Adam, and the hunk of his dreams in the pool. The four teens were soon swimming, splashing each other, and occasionally pushing each other under the water for a couple seconds. Basically, they were all having the time of their lives.

Billy joined them in the pool a few minutes later. There was a time when he completely avoided swimming, due to his problems with ichthyophobia, or fear of fish. However, ever since the fish monster that Rita sent down after learning of his fear, Billy had been getting over it and now enjoyed swimming. Dating Jason certainly helped, because the former red ranger, as an avid scuba diver, was extremely comfortable in the water.

Noticing for the first time that Billy wasn't wearing his glasses, Zaidan smiled as he swam up next to him and said, "Hey Billy. The no glasses look suits you."

"Thanks," Billy said. "I'm wearing contact lenses."

Zaidan nodded. "I kind of figured that. Glasses would be rough in the pool. Would be pretty hard to see through them with all the beads of water on the lenses."

"Affirmative," Billy agreed.

"Maybe later I'll show you my computer as I promised," Zaidan said. "It's a new state-of-the-art model from Dell. It hasn't even been released to the public yet, and won't be for a couple more months."

"Ah, so that's why you guaranteed I'd never seen anything like it," Billy said. "How did you get it though, if it hasn't been released yet?"

"Among my mother's various assets are some shares in Dell," Zaidan said. "So, as a shareholder, getting one before the public release was pretty easy. All in all it's a good system, it certainly suits all of my needs and I think it will do well when it's released."

"Well, I look forward to checking it out," Billy said. He'd never worked on a computer that hadn't been released to the public yet, so, it promised to be an interesting experience.

"Yo guys, heads up," Rocky said, before sending a small wave of water in Billy and Zaidan's direction. It didn't affect Zaidan's already wet hair much, but Billy's previously dry hair was now plastered to his forehead.

"We going to let him get away with that, Billy?" Zaidan asked.

"Negative," Billy said, before he splashed Rocky in the face as Zaidan went underwater, swam over and grabbed Rocky's feet as he pulled him under for a few seconds. If doing this gave Zaidan a chance to ogle Rocky's muscular legs and butt for a few seconds, well, all the better.

Half-an-hour later, Kim and Aisha, who had been sunbathing on a pair of the chaise lounges, moved into the hot tub, and Tommy, Rocky, Billy and Adam got out of the pool and dried off a bit before relaxing at the bar in the covered section of the patio.

Drying his hair and body so he wasn't dripping wet, Zaidan said, "Okay, well, Billy why don't you come inside and I'll show you my computer? I'll also grab some cold drinks for everyone and bring them out."

Billy nodded, as the others thanked Zaidan for the offer of cold drinks. Walking into the kitchen, Zaidan asked, "You want anything, Bill?"

"Water is fine," Billy answered.

Nodding, Zaidan opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Evian which he tossed to Billy, who caught it without much difficulty. He then led Billy into the study and turned on the computer, allowing Billy to sit down in the chair in front of it. "The password for the guest account is guest, so have fun." Grinning, he added, "You seem knowledgeable enough, so I think I can trust you not to make the thing explode if I leave you alone with it."

Billy laughed. "I promise it won't explode."

"Cool," Zaidan said, before he went back to the kitchen and grabbed a tray from on top of the refrigerator, before opening it and grabbing a couple more bottles of Evian, as well as a couple of bottles of juice and cans of soda. He also placed some of the snacks he'd prepared on the tray in case anyone was hungry before heading back outside.

When he arrived back outside, it was to see a sight that surprised him. Tommy and Adam were sitting at his bar making out with each other. Zaidan could tell from their actions around each other that they were good friends, though he certainly hadn't picked up on the fact that they were more than that. Coming over and placing the tray on the bar, Zaidan cleared his throat and said, "Well, here's the drinks and a few snacks."

Tommy and Adam looked at Zaidan, obviously a bit tense from the looks on their faces, as Tommy asked, "Um, Zaidan, you don't have a problem with Adam and I being a couple, do you?"

Zaidan smiled and said, "Nah, I don't have a problem with it, guys. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters to me." At this Tommy and Adam let out breaths they didn't even realize they'd been holding and Zaidan added, "Besides I'd be a royal hypocrite if I had a problem with it."

"What do you mean?" Adam asked. He had a feeling he knew what Zaidan meant, but he wanted to hear the confirmation.

"I'm gay," Zaidan said. "So, it would be wrong of me to have a problem with you two being together because you're both guys, when I'm a guy and want to be with one myself."

_'He's gay!'_ Rocky thought. _'Oh God, I might actually stand a chance with him. Yes!'_

"That's cool," Tommy said. "I'm gay, too."

"I'm bisexual," Adam said. "Although, I do tend to prefer guys."

Zaidan nodded, as Tommy said, "I imagine you already know that Billy is gay, if you heard Adam commenting that our friend Jason was his boyfriend."

"Yeah I heard Adam's comment and I assumed Billy was," Zaidan said.

"We're both straight," Kim and Aisha said in unison, as they joined the boys. They both sat down, as Kim grabbed a bottle of water and Aisha grabbed a bottle of fruit punch.

"Jason is bisexual, too," Adam said. "He says he prefers girls and I'm told he dated Kim here for a couple of months, but, he's been with Billy for a little over a year now."

"Interesting," Zaidan said. "And what about you, Rocky?" as he thought, _'Oh please don't be straight.'_

Rocky smiled and said, "I'm gay," and then after a moment's pause, he added, "and single."

Tommy, Adam, Kim, and Aisha all laughed, as Rocky asked, "What?"

Aisha was the first to recover, saying, "Oh Rocky, could you be any more obvious?"

Confused, Rocky asked, "What do you mean?"

Shaking her head, Kim said, "We've all seen you checking Zaidan out when you didn't think anybody was looking, Rocky."

At this Rocky blushed and Zaidan grinned, thinking, _'So, he's gay and interested in me. I think I've officially died and gone to heaven.'_

Spluttering, Rocky said, "I wasn't checking him out," but it was obvious to anyone that it was a weak denial, meaning that he was and he was only trying to cover his butt after he realized he'd gotten caught.

Taking pity on Rocky, Zaidan grinned and said, "It's okay if you've been checking me out, you know, Rocky. Seriously I don't mind, cause I've been doing the same to you, actually."

Rocky's head turned to Zaidan so fast that everyone was momentarily afraid he'd get whiplash, as he just stared at the blond for a moment, before he said, "You have?"

"Yeah, I have," Zaidan confirmed. "I think you're probably just about the sexiest guy I've ever seen in my life."

Rocky blushed, as Tommy and Adam looked offended and Tommy asked, "And what are we? Chopped liver?"

Zaidan smiled and shook his head. "No, you guys are sexy, too, but Rocky is more my type." After a moment, he added, "Besides, you two are together, so unless you're into threesomes, it wouldn't work out."

Kim looked at Aisha, groaned and asked, "Why do all the cute guys have to be gay?"

Aisha shook her head. "I don't know, but, girl you got to admit. Tommy and Adam look good together."

"True, they do," Kim agreed, before grinning wickedly at them. "If they ever decide to sell tickets to watch them in bed, I'd buy in a second."

"Oh I'm so with you there, girl," Aisha said with an equally wicked grin, as she gave Kim a high five.

Grinning, Zaidan couldn't help himself as he said, "I'd definitely buy a few of those myself."

"Me too," Rocky said, as he grabbed a can of root beer from the tray and popped the top. "Adam might be my oldest and best friend, but that'd be so hot."

"Hey, hey," Tommy, who was blushing like crazy, said, "nobody is selling tickets to watch me in bed with Adam. That's private," as Adam nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh isn't that cute?" Kim asked in a sweet voice like one would use when looking at a puppy. "They even blush the same color."

"Shut up," Adam and Tommy said in unison, as everyone else laughed.

-o-0-o-

On Saturday morning, Rocky arrived as promised to drive Zaidan to the airport. Following Zaidan into his bedroom, as he made one final sweep to make sure he had everything he needed, Rocky looked around. On the nightstand next to Zaidan's bed was a picture which prompted Rocky to ask, "Who's the hot guy?"

"You mean other than you?" Zaidan asked with a grin.

Rocky blushed and smiled. "Thanks, though I meant the guy in the picture on your nightstand."

"Oh, that's my older brother," Zaidan said, his tone suddenly a bit sad.

Cocking his head to one side, Rocky asked, "You keep a picture of your brother in only his underwear on your nightstand?"

"Yeah, I know that seems weird," Zaidan said. "We were very close though and that's the only picture I have left of him. All the others were destroyed in a fire about a week or so after he died."

"Man, that sucks," Rocky said. "What was his name?"

"Kaidan Callum Prince," Zaidan answered. "Everyone called him Callum or Cal though."

"Huh, your names rhyme," Rocky said.

Zaidan grinned. "Yeah, our mom thought that would be cute. My middle name is Willum, so, it wasn't just our first names that rhymed."

"How old was he?"

"He was 22 when he died," Zaidan replied. "21 when that picture was taken. It was taken shortly after my twelfth birthday. Mom got me a camera and of course I wanted to try it out, so I was going through a photograph everything in sight stage and that ended up including that picture of Callum. I caught him getting ready to take a shower after a practice session with sensei, so that's why he's in his underwear."

"And he wasn't mad at you?" Rocky asked. "I mean it looks like he posed for you, but..." He wasn't sure he could picture a guy being willing to pose for a picture in only his underwear, taken by their twelve-year-old brother.

"Nah, as I said, we were very close," Zaidan said. "We had almost everything in common, including a love for the martial arts. So, we did practically everything together and even dressed like twins most of the time. Mom even once commented that she thought she somehow only had one son in two bodies. She had been worried about our age difference, at first, but as we got older, she realized she had no reason to be."

"I hope talking about him doesn't make you sad," Rocky said, in a concerned tone, knowing that Zaidan might not like talking about his late brother.

"It's okay, Rocky," Zaidan assured. "It's natural you'd be curious and I like talking about him," and here Zaidan couldn't help getting a little teary-eyed, as much as he might not have wanted to, as he added, "I just wish he was still around, ya know?"

"Yeah, I can understand that," Rocky said as he pulled Zaidan into a hug and rubbed his back in a light way that he hoped would be soothing.

-o-0-o-

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Breaking the Cycle  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all related material is the property of Saban and/or Disney. I claim no ownership to it and am not making any money from this story. The only thing about this story that I own are the characters, places, and storylines not featured on the show.

-o-0-o-

Chapter Two

-o-0-o-

Leaving Zaidan's house in Rocky's Jeep, the two young men sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts until shortly after they'd left the Angel Grove city limits and Rocky made his way towards the Pacific Coast Highway for the hour-and-a-half drive south to Los Angeles.

"So I'm more your type, huh?" Rocky asked with a grin, remembering the blond's comment the previous day.

"Yeah, you're exactly my type," Zaidan said with a smile. "Actually, not to give you a swollen head or anything, but outwardly you're my dream man - don't know you well enough yet to know if your personality fits that description or not."

"Swollen heads are more fun, ya know," Rocky joked.

Zaidan laughed. "Yeah, that's true, although I wasn't actually talking about that head."

"I know, but I couldn't resist," Rocky said. "You're welcome to ask me anything you want to know."

"How about we do a question for a question?" Zaidan proposed. "I ask you a question, you answer it and then you can ask me a question and we just go back and forth like that?"

"Seems fair and it'll let us get to know each other better," Rocky agreed.

"Well, we'll start simple," Zaidan said. "I think I already know the answer to this, but what's your favorite color?"

"Definitely red," Rocky answered. "I'm also partial to blue, but I wear red more than anything else."

Zaidan grinned. "So, I'd noticed."

"So same question to you?"

"You probably guessed this already," Zaidan replied. "But, yeah, it's purple. It was actually Callum's favorite color, too. As I mentioned, we used to dress like twins most of the time and as he was older, he picked out the majority of our outfits, so I ended up wearing a lot of purple, and it just sort of stuck after he died and I got older. So, favorite food?"

"Basically anything," Rocky said. Taking his eyes off the road for a split second and seeing the look on Zaidan's face, he added, "It's true. I'll eat pretty much anything. The guys think I'm a bottomless pit and that my stomach is lined with lead, while the girls are jealous that I can eat as much as I do and not gain weight. You?"

"Interesting," Zaidan said. "There are some foods I don't like. I'm not very fond of overly spicy foods, for example. I don't mind some spice, but I draw the line at foods that make me feel like I have a five-alarm fire in my mouth that won't go away even if I drink a few gallons of water. Italian is probably my favorite though, especially pizza - I ate it practically every other day when I lived in New York."

" I like Italian, too," Rocky said, "and you can never go wrong with pizza as far as I'm concerned. So, while we're on the subject, what are your favorite pizza toppings?"

"Canadian bacon, green peppers, black olives, onions, and pineapple," Zaidan answered. "I also tend to love places that put both mozzarella and cheddar on their pizzas by default, though not many do in my experience."

"Hmm, sounds good," Rocky said. "Though I never much understood putting pineapple on a pizza. I've never tried it though, so I guess it could be good."

"It is," Zaidan said. "You should try it sometime."

"Well, perhaps we should go out sometime," Rocky said. "We can have a pizza together."

"Why Mr. DeSantos are you asking me out on a date?" Zaidan asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

"What if I said yes?"

"Hmm," Zaidan said, as he tapped his chin and pretended to think. "Well, I suppose I'd probably say yes. You get top marks in the hotness department and you seem nice enough. So, it doesn't seem like it'd be too much of a hardship to go on a date or two with you."

"A date or two, huh?" Rocky asked. "It'll be more than that if I have anything to say about it."

"Well, we'll see, Rocko," Zaidan said with a grin. "So, let's see you know I had a brother. What about you? Any siblings?"

"Oh yeah, several," Rocky said. "I come from a big ol' Catholic family. I have three older sisters, an older brother, two younger sisters, and four younger brothers. And my grandparents on my mom's side live with us, too."

"Damn," Zaidan said. "Talk about a full house. I think I'd go crazy with that many people around."

"Well, yeah, it can be a little annoying sometimes," Rocky said. "The older sibs don't live with us anymore, though, so I'm the eldest child in the house. So, that's kind of fun, actually, because I get to tell the younger ones what to do."

-o-0-o-

Following his meeting with John Taylor, Zaidan couldn't help but be a little bit awed by everything he'd learned. He'd known that his mother had left him an extensive inheritance, but he hadn't quite been prepared for the knowledge of exactly how much. While there were subjects that Zaidan was interested in and good at, math and economics had never been on that list. So, while Mr. Taylor had sent him several detailed financial reports over the years, Zaidan had only given them the briefest of glances, enough to know that he was well-off, before he filed them away and basically forgot about them. Thus, he really hadn't been prepared for the knowledge of exactly what he was worth.

As it turned out, the thirty-five million dollars he had thought was the whole extent of his fortune was actually just the trust vault that he'd been given access to. Now that he'd been emancipated and was legally an adult, he'd gained access to another account which brought his worth up to just over seventy million dollars - and that was just the liquid assets he now had control of. There was still more in the trust, with releases of more due to come on his 21st, 25th, and 30th birthdays. When Zaidan asked about the vault, Mr. Taylor wouldn't tell him what was in it, as per his mother's wishes, only that he'd have to wait until his 25th birthday, as access to the vault was part of that release.

He had learned, however, that in addition to the liquid assets that would be released to him at the intervals dictated by the trust, there was also a block of money that was tied up in real estate, stocks, and bonds. "Tallying everything up, Mr. Prince," John had said, "you're a very wealthy young man. I'd place your net worth in the arena of 420 to 450 million dollars. Of course, that value will fluctuate based on the stock prices and other factors, but my partner and I will do all we can to insure that you lose as little as possible."

_"How did I miss numbers like that in those reports?"_ Zaidan thought to himself. Of course, he came up with the answer fairly quickly. He'd never bothered to read the reports past the first page, which was only an accounting of the trust vault that he had access to. He'd tried once and all he got for it was a splitting headache as all the numbers blurred together, so he never tried again. If he had then maybe he wouldn't have been caught off guard quite as much as he had been. When he'd attended an exclusive boarding school, he'd met plenty of other kids who had seen his perceived thirty-five million dollar net worth as being peanuts, because they were worth five or more times that, but it was still a pretty damn impressive number as far as Zaidan was concerned. He couldn't help but wonder just what some of them would be thinking if they found out that he was actually worth between 420 and 450 million. Probably still wouldn't impress some of them, especially the children of multi-billionaires, but Zaidan honestly couldn't care less about impressing them.

Once Mr. Taylor had left, Zaidan felt the need to clear his head and he wanted to see a few of the sights around New York again, so he grabbed his keys and left his hotel room. While he'd already eaten the meal that the hotel had sent up for his dinner meeting with Mr. Taylor, Zaidan had purposely left room in his stomach for pizza. That was one of the things he'd missed most about New York, so since he was here, he just had to stop in for a slice at his favorite pizza parlor. Turning a corner, Zaidan was lost in his thoughts and didn't see the person walking right at him until they collided with one another and landed on their collective rear ends.

As he stood up, he was just about to apologize profusely when he looked down at the person he'd run into and recognized him. It was one of his classmates from the exclusive boarding school he'd attended while he lived in Silver Hills and one of the few people there that he'd actually considered a friend. Holding out a hand to the young man to help him up, Zaidan asked, "Wes? What are you doing in New York?"

Looking up and recognizing Zaidan, seventeen-year-old Wesley Collins grinned, as he took the hand offered to him and said, "I could ask you the same thing, Zaid," using the shortened version of Zaidan's name he insisted on using.

"Well, I asked first," Zaidan said with a grin, as he pulled his friend to his feet.

"Dad's in town on business," Wes answered. "Pulled me out of school for the weekend and dragged me along because he thinks it'll be a good learning experience for me."

"I take it he's still intent on you taking over Bio-Lab one day?"

"Oh yeah," Wes replied. "That's like his biggest dream that I'll take over his company. He says that's the reason he built his empire, so that he could pass it on to me one day." At this point, Wes scowled and added, in a rather angry tone, "Personally, I think he's just a greedy, power hungry old man who doesn't want me to have any fun."

"Why so upset?"

"I just wanted to go out and explore the city a little," Wes said. "I've never been to New York before, so I wanted to see some of the sights but he won't let me leave. Says this isn't a pleasure trip and I should stay focused. Like I really care about his mind-numbingly boring meetings with Erikson Labs."

"Erikson Labs?" Zaidan asked.

"Yeah, he wants them to be Bio-Lab's newest subsidiary," Wes explained. "He's bought some of the stock, but he doesn't have enough to force the buyout. And the remaining shareholders are proving less cooperative then he'd like. Seems they're not interested in selling their stock or in allowing the company to become a subsidiary of one of their main West Coast competitors."

"That name sounds awfully familiar," Zaidan said. "Come with me back to my room, Wes. I want to check something."

"What?"

"I was just meeting with John Taylor," Zaidan explained, as the two teens headed back to Zaidan's suite. "He manages my trust fund. Had to sign some papers now that I've been emancipated."

"Emancipated?" Wes asked. "You mean you're legally an adult now?"

"Yeah," Zaidan said, as he grinned at his friend and asked, "Cool, huh?"

"Hell yes!" Wes said. "I'd give just about anything to be out from under my father's thumb. Don't get me wrong, I love him and he's given me a lot, but he can be very controlling." After a moment of silence he turned to Zaidan and added, "You ever tell him I said that though, and I will kill you."

Zaidan grinned and said, "Understood."

Arriving at the door to his suite, Wes's eyes practically bugged out as he asked, "Isn't this the Royal Suite?"

"Yeah, it is," Zaidan said.

"Man, Zaid, how do you rate?" Wes asked. "Emancipated and staying in the room that got its name because Queen Elizabeth once stayed in it? Not to mention becoming the New York residence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor."

"Hey I didn't book this room," Zaidan said, as they entered. "Mr. Taylor's secretary did. Trust me, I was just as shocked when I found out. Anyway, I just need to take a look at these papers that Mr. Taylor left." Grabbing the list that Mr. Taylor had given him that listed his stock holdings, Zaidan ran a finger down the list as he read it quickly, before grinning and turning to his friend. "Aha. I knew that name sounded familiar. Wes, you think if I help your father out in his negotiations, he'd be willing to let us out on the town to have some fun?"

"Maybe, but how are you going to do that?" Wes asked.

"I own 31% of Erikson Labs," Zaidan answered with a grin.

Wes's mouth dropped open and it took a minute for him to speak, before he said, "Dad managed to buy 20%, so that means between your stock and his, you have a majority! Oh man, Zaid, he's sure he stands to make a killing if this deal goes through. It's all I've heard out of him all week. If you help him get it, I'm sure he'll be in a much more agreeable mood. Making money always makes him more agreeable."

"Okay, well, before we take this to him," Zaidan said as he pulled out his cell phone, "I just want to call Mr. Taylor and ask his opinion. Have to make sure your Dad doesn't get all the profit from this deal."

Wes grinned and nodded, as he began looking around the lavishly appointed room, while his friend was on the phone. After a few minutes on the phone, Zaidan said, "Will do," as he closed his phone and said, "Hey Wes, let's go see your father."

"So does that mean Mr. Taylor thinks this'll be profitable for you?" Wes asked.

Nodding, Zaidan said, "Yeah he's optimistic that I can make a good profit."

"Awesome," Wes said. "Well, Dad was headed down to Peacock Alley for dinner," looking down at the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing, he added, "but we'll both have to change clothes before we'd be allowed in."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing I packed some nicer clothes," Zaidan said. "Come on, we're the same size, so you can borrow some of mine for now."

Wes grinned and said, "You just want an excuse to get me naked in your bedroom."

Zaidan laughed and said, "You know I don't ever recall needing to come up with an excuse for that. You always seemed more than willing."

While they'd been in school together, Zaidan and Wes had fooled around a bit. They'd seen each other naked and had several ferocious lip-locking sessions, however, they never went all the way and had sex. Well, intercourse anyway, for there had been several mutual masturbation and frottage sessions.

"What can I say?" Wes asked with a goofy grin. "You're hot."

"You're not so bad yourself," Zaidan said as he slung an arm over Wes' shoulder and led him towards the smaller of the two bedrooms in the suite. The other room was actually the "master" bedroom, but it had been decorated with a more feminine look to it. The bedroom that Zaidan had chosen was more masculine in its appointments and thus was the room that he preferred.

Walking over to the closet, Zaidan grabbed his garment bag and placed it on the bed, as he unzipped it and said, "I really don't know what possessed me to bring two suits for an overnight trip."

"You're in Angel Grove now, right?" Wes asked, as he toed off his sneakers.

"Yeah, I've got a nice house overlooking the ocean," Zaidan said. "Remind me to send you some pictures in my next email."

"Will do," Wes said as he took off the black denim jeans he'd been wearing, leaving him standing there in just a green t-shirt, hunter grey boxer-briefs, and white crew socks.

Looking over at his friend, Zaidan smiled and said, "Lose the socks. Those might work well with sneakers, but not so much with dress shoes."

"True," Wes agreed, before he sat down on the bed and pulled his socks off, before putting on the black dress socks that Zaidan tossed over to him. Once he'd put them on, he looked over at his friend, who had now stripped down to his underwear, and whistled before he said, "Damn, Zaid, you've been working out haven't you?"

"Yeah, a bit," Zaidan said. "My new house has a pool, so I go swimming practically every day. It's in a gated community, so there's also a clubhouse for all the residents with a fully equipped gym that I've been making good use of. Plus running through a few katas. I've been hanging out with a group of my classmates from school and they're all really into the martial arts. Two of them even teach classes at the youth center, so, figured I should try and stay in top form, just so I can keep up with them."

Wes nodded and giving his friend a significant look, he asked, "Do they know?"

Seeing the look on Wes' face, Zaidan didn't need him to elaborate any further. "No, they don't."

"You going to tell them?" Wes asked.

Zaidan shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know yet. I've only really known them for a couple of days. Didn't really seem like the time for heart to hearts, ya know?"

"Yeah, I can understand that," Wes answered. "Lord knows I was shocked when you told me."

"I can't say as I blame you," Zaidan said. "It's not every day a person learns something like _that_ about one of their friends. Honestly, as much as I trusted you, I don't think I would've told you at all if we hadn't been fooling around. You're the only person I've ever let see me without any clothes on."

Wes grinned at that. "So, I'm the only one whose seen that hot body of yours in all its glory, huh? Cool."

"Yeah, Wes, you are," Zaidan said. Blushing slightly, he added, "Kind of had to tell you the truth though or I can only imagine what you would have thought."

"It was definitely different," Wes agreed. "Though not in a bad way." Putting on a green silk shirt that matched the deep purple one that his friend was putting on, Wes asked, "So, these new friends of yours, anyone cute?"

"Well, I do have my eye on one of them," Zaidan said. "He's just about the hottest guy I've ever met. His name is Rocky DeSantos."

"Hispanic?" Wes asked.

"No, Castilian," Zaidan said. "His family is from somewhere in Spain."

"Cool," Wes said, as he grabbed the pants of the suit that Zaidan had set aside for him to wear. "This brings back memories."

"What us sharing clothes?" Zaidan asked with a grin.

"Yeah, lord knows we did it enough when we in school together," Wes said. "You know half our classmates thought we were a couple?"

"Well, I suppose they weren't too far off base," Zaidan said, as he finished buckling his belt. "We were practically inseparable and were fooling around quite a bit."

"That's true," Wes conceded, "although I never really thought of you as boyfriend material. You're a great guy and I love spending time with you, but..."

"No, I understand," Zaidan said as he walked over to the mirror and began tying his tie. "We're probably much better off as friends anyway. I think if we were a couple, we'd probably get on each other's nerves too much. Besides, I always thought you kind of had a thing for Eric."

"You mean Eric Meyers?" Wes asked, as Zaidan nodded. "Well, yeah, I guess he's cute, but he's also got a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas."

"You're going to let a little thing like that stop you?" Zaidan teased. "Doesn't sound like the Wes Collins I know."

"There's not much I can do, Zaid. He left school shortly after you did, I think his scholarship ran out or something," Wes said as he finished with his tie and pulled on the suit coat. "I haven't seen him since he told me he was leaving and let me tell you, he wasn't all that nice about it. Anyway, let's get down to the restaurant and shock my dad."

"Sounds good to me," Zaidan said with a grin as they left the room.

-o-0-o-

A few minutes later, Wes and Zaidan walked into Peacock Alley, as the maître d' asked, "Do you gentleman have a reservation?"

"We're meeting someone," Wes said. "My father, Alan Collins?"

"Ah yes, he mentioned his son might be joining him. This way, please."

A moment later, they'd arrived at the table that Mr. Collins was sitting at. He was currently talking on his mobile phone, clearly not all that happy with whomever he was speaking to. "I don't care, I want that report in my hands first thing in the morning!" Not giving the person a chance to respond, Mr. Collins disconnected the call. It was while he was putting his phone away that he spotted his son and Zaidan.

"Ah, Wes, you decided to join me, I see," Mr. Collins said, as he then looked over at Zaidan and asked, "Do I know you?"

Holding out his hand to Mr. Collins, Zaidan said, "Zaidan Prince, sir. I'm an old classmate of Wes's and your new best friend."

"My new best friend?" Mr. Collins asked, as he raised an eyebrow and pointedly ignored Zaidan's outstretched hand. "How do you figure that, Mr. Prince?"

Wes and Zaidan sat down at the table at this point and Zaidan smiled, as he said, "Well, Wes tells me that you're in town to get your hands on Erikson Labs. I just so happen to be a major shareholder."

"Shareholder?" Mr. Collins asked. "You're a teenager."

"True," Zaidan said. "I'm seventeen, although I've been legally emancipated. Anyway, the stock in question was bought by my late mother and is now a part of my trust fund."

"Just how much stock are we talking about?" Mr. Collins asked.

Grinning, Wes said, "Oh not much, really, just 31%."

Eyes widening, Mr. Collins asked, "Did you say 31%?" He'd known that between them the shareholders blocking Bio-Lab from taking over only owned 49% of the shares. With the 20% that Bio-Lab owned, that did leave 31% of the company's stock unaccounted for, although that was a detail that Mr. Collins had never shared with his son. He'd tried to track down the owner or owners of the stock in question, but had little success in doing so. Now, however, it seemed as though the owner had found him.

Zaidan nodded and said, "Indeed. I was in town to meet with my trust manager to sign some papers now that I've been emancipated and ran into Wes here," at this Wes mumbled, "literally," under his breath. "Anyway, I asked why he was in town, so he told me. I knew that name sounded familiar, so I checked and I own 31% of Erikson Labs. Now, I already checked with my trust manager - I can't sell you the stock, because it's part of the release scheduled for my 30th birthday. My mother made sure that the terms were ironclad, so, there's no way I can access it to sell them until then, but Mr. Taylor says that I can still vote the shares."

"Between Bio-Lab's 20% stake and Zaidan's 31%," Wes said, "unless my math is failing me, that's 51%. So, Dad, considering that I've basically just handed you Erikson Labs with a nice big ribbon on it, can I go out and see some of the sights now? Please?"

"I'm going to need proof of these claims," Mr. Collins said.

Pulling a business card out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket, Zaidan handed it to Mr. Collins and said, "That's my trust manager's card. Go ahead, call him - he's expecting your call. He'll confirm what Wes and I have said."

Looking at the card, Mr. Collins nodded, as he pulled out his mobile phone. He did recognize Taylor & Evans, it was a well-known and respected trust management firm. He hadn't used them for his son's trust fund, but that was only because he wanted someone closer to home as Taylor & Evans was based in New York. After a brief conversation with John Taylor, in which his son's and his friend's claims were confirmed, Mr. Collins hung up and said, "Well, I suppose you can go out and see a few of the sights if you wish. Just try not to get lost."

Smiling, Zaidan said, "That won't be a problem, Mr. Collins. I'll go with Wes - I lived here for about 7 1/2 months, so I know my way around the city pretty well."

Mr. Collins nodded and asked, "Thank you, Mr. Prince. I appreciate your help in this matter. There's a shareholder's meeting scheduled for Monday at 2pm at the Erikson offices."

"Well, that poses a problem," Zaidan said. "I have school on Monday and I live in California. This was only an overnight trip - I'm booked on a flight to LAX that leaves tomorrow morning at 8:45."

"What about Mr. Taylor?" Wes asked. "He is the trustee of your trust, Zaid." Casting a questioning gaze at his father, he asked, "He could attend the meeting and vote on Zaidan's behalf, right?"

"Yes, that would work," Mr. Collins said.

Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his own mobile phone, Zaidan said, "Well, I'll just call him and check. No idea what his schedule is like on Monday."

Mr. Collins nodded and waited as Zaidan talked with John. After a few moments, Zaidan hung up and said, "Okay, well, Mr. Taylor can't make it. He's got meetings all afternoon that he can't cancel. However, his partner's schedule is free, so he's going to make arrangements for Mr. Evans to attend the meeting and vote on my behalf."

Nodding, Mr. Collins looked at his watch and said, "Well, it's almost five now, so I guess if you boys want to go out and see a few of the sights, you can go now. Just try and be back before ten."

"Thanks, Dad," Wes said with a smile, as both he and Zaidan stood and left the restaurant. Going back upstairs to Zaidan's suite, they both changed back into the more casual clothes they'd been wearing when they'd run into one another, before heading out to see as many of the sights as they could fit into the time they had. The first stop being Zaidan's favorite pizza parlor for a slice of New York pizza.

-o-0-o-

Arriving back at LAX the next morning, Zaidan found Tommy waiting for him.

"Tommy?" Zaidan asked. "Wasn't expecting you to pick me up. Don't you have a class to teach at the youth center in about half-an-hour?"

Tommy smiled. "Rocko sends his apologies, but he had a church function with his family this afternoon. He tried to get out of it, but his parents wouldn't let him. As for the class, it was cancelled. Youth center had a power failure, along with half the city, so Ernie didn't know when he'd be able to get the lights back on. Had it been our older students, we might have moved to the park, but this was our younger group who are just learning. So, we didn't want to have the class without mats."

Zaidan nodded. "Can understand that. Just have to get my bag and we can get out of here."

"Cool," Tommy said as the two headed for the baggage claim. "So, everything go okay in New York?"

"Well, once I got over the initial shock it was great," Zaidan answered.

"Shock?" Tommy asked, as they arrived at the baggage claim and waited for Zaidan's bag to show up.

"Turns out I'm worth a lot more money than I thought," Zaidan said. "I never read past the first page of the statements that my trust manager sent me, so I thought the amount that was in the trust account that I had access to was the whole extent of my assets."

Tommy laughed. "Sounds like something I'd do, honestly. I've never had much of a head for numbers. So, how much are you actually worth anyway, if you don't mind my asking? Rocko said you were a millionaire several times over, but we never did get a number out of him."

"I had thought about 35 million," Zaidan answered. "Turns out though that between stocks, real estate, and more liquid assets which are scheduled to be released to me at specific ages, I'm actually worth over 400 million."

"Damn," Tommy said after a moment. "That's a lot of money. You said it was your mothers?" Zaidan nodded. "What did she do to have that kind of money?"

_'You wouldn't believe me if I told you,'_ Zaidan thought, as he said, "Old family money... my family owned a lot of real estate." Okay, that wasn't even a lie, as his family did own a lot of real estate, they just didn't make any money off of their properties.

"So, other than that shock," Tommy asked, "did you do anything fun?"

Zaidan nodded as he spotted his bag and grabbed it. "Yeah. I literally ran into an old classmate of mine from the prep school I attended in Silver Hills. He was there with his dad on business. We went out for pizza and saw some of the sights. It was fun."

"Cool," Tommy said as they headed towards the parking lot. "So is this friend of yours rich too?"

"Yeah, way richer than I am," Zaidan said. "His name's Wesley Collins. His dad is a multi-billionaire CEO. I didn't really get along with most of my classmates at that school, because all they ever wanted to do was brag about how much money they had and try to make those who had less feel inferior, but Wes was different. We clicked and have stayed in contact ever since. I have to remember to send him some pictures of my house, because he wanted to see them."

"Well, I hope you didn't find it offensive when I asked," Tommy said. "We've all just been curious since Rocky made that comment. Not that we care one way or the other. You seem like a really cool guy and I still want to learn those moves you showed off at the youth center. Those were so cool."

"No problem," Zaidan said with a grin. "I taught Wes, so, I don't see why I couldn't teach you and the others as well."

"So Wes is into the martial arts, too?" Tommy asked, as they arrived at his jeep and got in as Zaidan tossed his bag into the back.

"Not so much until we met," Zaidan answered. "His father is grooming him to take over his company someday and for the longest time didn't allow him to do any sports-related activities because he felt they wouldn't teach him any skills necessary in a corporate setting. So, instead he was bored out of his mind as a member of the debate club, chess club, and an accounting club."

"Accounting club?" Tommy asked as he started up his car. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope, I'm not," Zaidan said. "Ever see the movie Richie Rich with Macaulay Culkin?" Tommy nodded. "Well, the prep school had an extensive business department, where the classrooms looked pretty much exactly like Richie's classroom in the movie. School has lots of rich alumni in the corporate world, so the business department is basically a rival of any major university's business program only on the high school level. Thus, they offer several activities meant to train future corporate CEOs in skills they'll need, like marketing, accounting and golf."

"That's crazy," Tommy said, as they left LAX.

"Yeah, it is," Zaidan agreed. "Anyway, eventually Mr. Collins let up and let Wes join a few activities he wanted to join. One of them was a martial arts class, which is where we met. He was pretty much my only friend at that school because he didn't enjoy bragging about his father or his bank account. Anyway, we practiced in our off hours quite a bit because the class itself was worthless."

"In what way?"

"It was full of spoiled rich kids," Zaidan replied. "They'd had everything they've ever owned handed to them on a silver platter without having to do anything. More than one of them made it clear that they expected to just be given their belts without actually mastering the skills necessary to earn them. And don't even get me started on the ones who would threaten to sue you for everything you're worth if you so much as tapped them during practice."

"Wow," Tommy said. He really didn't know what else to say to that. "How long did you stay at that place?"

"I stuck it out for about six months," Zaidan said. "Probably wouldn't have stayed much past a month if it hadn't been for Wes. Our friendship made it bearable."

Grinning at him as they stopped at a stop light, Tommy asked, "So, were you and Wes just friends or something more?"

"Mostly just friends," Zaidan said. "We did fool around a bit though. Mostly just some heavy make out sessions though. We realized pretty quickly that we were better as friends, so we never went all the way, even if our raging hormones were wishing we had."

-o-0-o-

Pulling into Zaidan's driveway, Zaidan got out of the car and grabbed his bag. "You want to come in for a drink or something?"

Smiling, Tommy turned off the jeep and said, "Sure, thanks."

Heading up to the front door, Zaidan pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, letting his friend enter first, before entering himself. "Help yourself to anything in the fridge. I'm just going to drop my bag in my room."

Tommy nodded and headed towards the kitchen, still somewhat in awe of the house. He'd seen it before, obviously, but he still couldn't believe that one of his classmates lived in a place like this, not to mention the fact that Zaidan lived alone and owned the house. Opening the fridge, Tommy scanned the available drinks before grabbing a can of Sprite and sitting on one of the stools at the island. Zaidan showed up a minute later and grabbed another Sprite, noticing again that his answering machine was blinking. Hitting the play button, the automated voice said, "You have two new messages."

"Saturday, 8:30 PM," the automated voice said, before Rocky's voice said, "Hey Zaidan, it's Rocky. By the time you get this, you'll probably already know but I have a church function with the family on Sunday afternoon, so I can't come pick you up. I really tried to get out of it, but my parents wouldn't hear of it. I'll try to get someone else to meet you at LAX. Sorry - hope everything went okay in New York. See you Monday."

"Sunday, 9:42 AM," the machine said, before a female voice said, "Mr. Prince, this is Maggie Carlson - I sold you your house. You mentioned that you might want to hire a live-in housekeeper. I think I've found someone who would work, if you're willing to meet with him. Call me and let me know. My cell is 958-555-0128."

"A housekeeper, huh?" Tommy asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, this place is pretty big," Zaidan said. "Figured having someone around to help with the housework would be good."

"Makes sense," Tommy said. "If you want to return that call, go ahead. I don't mind."

"Thanks," Zaidan said, as he grabbed the phone and dialed. The phone was answered on the second ring. "This is Maggie."

"Hey Ms. Carlson, it's Zaidan Prince."

"Ah Mr. Prince, I was wondering if I'd hear from you today. Sleeping in where you?"

"I wish," Zaidan said. "Just got back from LAX actually. Was in New York on business."

"Ah, I see," Maggie said. "I talked with the staffing agency and found out you weren't having the best of luck in finding a housekeeper. I apologize for that. The agency I've normally worked with in the past closed upon the owner's retirement and this new agency doesn't seem to be working out. Anyway, I wanted to find you someone who could do the job and I think I may have found a good candidate."

"I take it from your message it's a man?" Zaidan asked.

"Yes, it's my son, Gregory Carlson. Until recently, he was working as a housekeeper at a hotel in town, but both it and his apartment building were destroyed in a monster attack a month ago. So, he's been living in my basement and trying to find a new job."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Zaidan said. He'd heard the rumors about Angel Grove often being the target of monsters sent down by one Rita Repulsa, but he hadn't really believed it until he actually moved to the city and saw one of the attacks on the news. "I'd like to know a bit more about him. I'm assuming he's gay-friendly, because as you know I'm gay, so that's non-negotiable."

"Considering that he's gay himself," Maggie said, "I don't think there'll be any problems there, Mr. Prince. Anyway, he's twenty-six years old. He refused to accept the money his father and I set aside for his college education, telling us to save it for our retirement. He wanted to pay his own way, which he did, graduating with a degree in hotel management. He's been trying to secure a new position, but with the monster attacks, jobs are scarce, because any openings are filled almost immediately by people who lost their job to one of the attacks."

"Sounds like he's responsible and a hard worker," Zaidan commented.

"Oh he is that and I'm not just saying that because he's my son," Maggie said. "The only potential wrinkle is that he does have a live-in boyfriend. When I mentioned your need for a live-in housekeeper, he expressed interest in the position, but only if Michael could live with him. I know you weren't planning on hiring a couple, but I think Michael could also help you."

"How's that?" Zaidan asked.

"His father owns a successful landscaping business," Maggie replied. "And his mother is the head horticulturist at the Angel Grove Botanical Gardens, so he's well-versed in landscaping and plants and should have no problem handling all of the outdoor work of your property while Gregory handles the indoor work."

_'Well, that would save me from having to find a landscaper,'_ Zaidan thought. _'They both sound like they'd be good fits.'_ Making up his mind, he said, "Well, I guess it can't hurt to meet them. I'm free for the rest of the day if they can come over, otherwise, anytime after 4 tomorrow."

"I don't know what they're up to this afternoon," Maggie said, "but if you don't mind me giving my son your number, I can have him call you himself."

"That's fine," Zaidan said. "Thank you, Ms. Carlson."

"You're welcome, Mr. Prince," Maggie responded. "I'll see to it that my son calls you as soon as possible to set up a meeting with you."

"Okay, thanks for calling, Ms. Carlson. I appreciate it," Zaidan said, exchanging goodbyes before hanging up.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Well, Ms. Carlson is going to have him call me," Zaidan said. "Apparently it's her son that she's recommending. Both his home and place of employment were destroyed in one of the monster attacks a month ago. He worked in housekeeping at a hotel, however, and he has a boyfriend who's skilled in landscaping."

"Sounds like they might work well," Tommy said, as he finished his drink and stood. "Well, Z, thanks for the drink, but I should get going. I have a date with Adam tonight, so I should get ready."

Smiling, Zaidan said, "Well, don't let me keep you from your stud. Get going, Tommy."

"See you tomorrow at school," Tommy said as he shook hands with the blond, who walked him to the door.

Once Tommy was gone, Zaidan headed into the study and powered up his computer in order to check his email. He'd just finished deleting the spam and was typing an email to Wes when the phone rang.

Reaching over, Zaidan picked up the receiver and said, "Zaidan Prince."

"Hi, this Greg Carlson," a male voice said.

"Ah you must be Maggie Carlson's son," Zaidan said.

"That's me," Greg said.

"As I told your mom, I wasn't planning on hiring a couple, but I'm willing to meet with you and your boyfriend, at least. I'm free all this afternoon, otherwise it would have to be after 4 PM during the week, as I'll be in school."

"Are you going to AGU?" Greg asked. His mother hadn't told him a whole lot about Zaidan, only that he was young, had recently bought a house from her, and that he was in the market for a gay-friendly live in housekeeper. Being a borderline neat freak who had until recently had a housekeeping job, Greg had no problems with staying in that industry. Being a live-in position would also allow him to move out of his parents' house, having been forced to move back in with them after his apartment building had been destroyed when one of Rita's supersized monsters fell on top of it during its battle with the rangers.

"No, I'm a junior at AG High," Zaidan answered. "I'm a 17-year-old emancipated minor."

"Ah, okay," Greg answered. He hadn't really expected his potential employer to be only 17, but it wasn't really a problem for him. "Well, Mike and I can be over in about twenty minutes if that works for you."

"Yeah, that's fine," Zaidan said. "I'll be here. I look forward to meeting you."

"Same here," Greg responded, before the call was ended. Zaidan called down to the gate guard to tell him that he was expecting a Greg Carlson, before he resumed typing his email to Wes, making sure to attach some pictures of his new house. He also mentioned his potential new domestic help in a postscript. Finishing up, Zaidan clicked send seconds before the doorbell rang. Standing up and heading into the entryway, Zaidan answered the door to find two good-looking young men standing on his front porch. One was about 6'1" with black hair, brown eyes, and faint black stubble on his face. Zaidan assumed he was Greg Carlson, because he could see a resemblance to Maggie Carlson. The other man was also about 6'1" with dark brown hair and grey eyes.

Inviting them inside, Zaidan said, "Zaidan Prince, nice to meet you."

"Gregory Carlson," the black haired man said. "But I prefer Greg."

"Michael Landers," the other man said. "It's just Mike though - Michael is my father."

Nodding, Zaidan said, "Well, why don't we adjourn to the family room and we can chat a bit."

Both of them nodded and followed Zaidan into the family room. Motioning towards the sofa, Zaidan sad down in a chair across from it.

"This is a very nice house," Greg commented.

"Thank you," Zaidan said. "I'm quite pleased with it, although it is rather big for only one person. Your mother is a good saleswoman though and I fell in love with this place the moment I saw it."

"I can see why," Mike said with a smile.

"Now, I wasn't planning on hiring a couple," Zaidan said. "However, I am willing to do so, as I'd figured I'd have to hire a landscaper to deal with the yard work anyway. Greg's mother did mention your background in the field, Mike, although she didn't specifically say that you were looking for a job."

"I wouldn't say no to one," Mike said. "I'm currently working full-time for my father's landscaping company, but I wouldn't say no to some extra income on the side."

Nodding, Zaidan said, "Alright, well, as the live-in housekeeper, Greg, your job would be to load and unload the dishwasher, vacuum, dust, clean the windows, sweep and mop the floors, clean the bathrooms, make the beds, and change the linens on them at least once a week. I may also need you to run errands occasionally, such as grocery shopping or picking up dry cleaning."

"I can do all of that," Greg said. "It's not that much different from what I did at the hotel. I also minored in the culinary arts in college, so I'm a decent cook, if you need me to do any cooking."

"I usually do that myself," Zaidan said. "Although, there are days when I'm too tired to do it, so I wouldn't say no to having you prepare a meal. While we're on that subject, I should say that I am lethally allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish. So, as a rule, I don't keep any of those items in the house so that I can't accidentally consume them. I've had one major bout of anaphylactic shock in my life that almost killed me. Obviously it's an experience I do not wish to repeat."

With a nod, Mike said, "Well I can certainly understand that. One of the things Greg and I have in common is that neither of us ever particularly cared for eating nuts of any kind. In fact, when I was still in school, I used to say that I was allergic to them, even though I'm not, to get classmates and teachers to stop asking me why I never ate the desserts with nuts in them that the cafeteria served from time to time. So I don't think either of us will have a problem going without them. As for shellfish, while we do both eat it from time to time, it's always been in a restaurant, so we wouldn't be bringing it into the house."

"That works for me," Zaidan said. "Now, I know Greg is old enough to drink and I'm assuming you are as well, Mike. I'm not, however, nor are any of my friends from school that might be coming over from time to time. To that end, I would ask that you not place any alcoholic beverages in the kitchen refrigerator. However, there is a wet bar with a mini-fridge in the bedroom you'd be using. You can stock whatever you wish in it, as my friends and I will stay out of the room. I would, however, prefer that neither of you walk around the house drunk on a regular basis."

"That won't be a problem," Greg said. "Mike and I are not heavy drinkers. We do drink socially, never more than one or two drinks a night, however. And none if we have to drive. Before our apartment was destroyed, we did keep beer and wine on hand to drink with meals from time to time, but we can easily keep it in the fridge in our room and not drink it in front of you or your friends."

"That'll work," Zaidan said. "Mike, your job would be to maintain the yard in compliance with the homeowner's association's regulations. They require that the lawn be cut once a week, although a grace period is given in the event of a particularly rainy week that would leave the grass too wet to be cut. There's a compost bin for the grass clippings and other yard waste on the side of the house. You'd also need to remove any weeds, keep the hedges trimmed, and keep the other plants looking their best."

"I can do all of that," Mike said.

"Well, you two are certainly the best candidates I've interviewed so far," Zaidan said. "First woman didn't understand what I meant by gay-friendly and proceeded to quote Bible verses and tell me I'd roast in hell once she realized I was homosexual and the second one proceeded to tell me all the things she wasn't willing to do - which included everything that I'd expect a housekeeper to do. I haven't interviewed any landscapers yet, as I figured once I hired a housekeeper, I'd ask their opinion, figuring that they had probably lived here in Angel Grove longer than I have and might know a good one. I'm guessing, Greg, that you would suggest I hire Mike?"

Greg grinned. "What this lay about? Nah, you can do so much better."

Mike growled as he playfully hit Greg upside the head, as he looked at Zaidan and said, "He's kidding."

Zaidan laughed. "Yeah, I kind of guessed that. Anyway, how about I give you both a three month trial in the positions and if at the end of three months, I'm pleased with your performance, the jobs will be yours on a permanent basis. Does that sound fair?"

"Sounds good to me," Mike said, as Greg nodded.

"Alright then, well, let's see here," Zaidan said. "We've covered what your duties will be, I imagine you want to know what your compensation will be. First and foremost, you'll have the room here in the house. As I said it has a wet bar with a mini-fridge, in addition to a coffee pot. There's also a walk-in closet and a bathroom. Technically the bathroom is the pool bath, so there's a door that leads outside, but it can remain locked and I can tell guests to use the half-bath off the kitchen. Now, I noticed the truck in the driveway - do both of you have vehicles?"

"The truck is mine," Mike revealed. "Greg doesn't have a car, but we both have motorcycles."

"We also have a tandem bike," Greg added. "My parents are avid cyclists and have been riding their own tandem for years now. They think every couple should have one, so they bought Mike and I one for our anniversary a couple of years ago."

Nodding, Zaidan said, "Okay. I asked because as I'm sure you noticed I have four garage bays. I only use one of them myself. They're large enough that your truck, motorcycles and bike should all fit in one of them, so, you'll also have a space in the garage to keep your vehicles out of the weather."

Greg and Mike nodded and Zaidan continued, "Now, the room you'll be using has its own satellite TV receiver, an unlimited cable internet connection, and it's own phone line. Your compensation will include all utilities, with the exceptions of the phone line in your room, as you'll be the only ones using it, and any pay-per-view programs you buy."

"Fair enough," Greg said.

"Now, as for time off," Zaidan said, "Greg, you'll have one full day a week off, plus two half days, where you can choose whether to work in the morning or evening, with the rest of the day off. As for you, Mike, your schedule will be flexible, to fit with the needs of your job at your father's company. As for salary, Greg, I was thinking $500 a week and for you Mike, whatever your father charges for the weekly upkeep of a one acre lot plus a $100."

"That's very generous," Mike said, as Greg nodded.

"I'm a generous person," Zaidan said. "As I'm sure you must have guessed, as I bought this house and live here alone, I'm quite wealthy. Not as wealthy as an old friend of mine from Silver Hills, but wealthy enough that you needn't worry about me being able to pay you. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to the room you'll be using."

Once he'd shown Greg and Mike to their room, Zaidan headed into town to visit a locksmith and have copies of the house key made for Greg and Mike, while they headed for Greg's parents house to get their belongings. Zaidan also made sure to inform the gate guard that Greg Carlson and Mike Landers were now live-in staff at his home and were to be allowed in at all times.

-o-0-o-

To be continued.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Feel free to contact me, I love hearing from my readers.

Next chapter: Tommy and Adam's date, Jason and Billy "conversing" on the phone, and Rita notices the rangers' new friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Breaking the Cycle  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all related material is the property of Saban and/or Disney. I claim no ownership to it and am not making any money from this story. The only thing about this story that I own are the characters, places, and storylines not featured on the show.

-o-0-o-

Chapter Three

-o-0-o-

Leaving Zaidan's house, Tommy drove home and made a beeline for his bedroom. Stripping off his clothes, he headed into his ensuite bathroom for a shower. Adjusting the water temperature until it was just right, he stepped in and just stood under the spray for a moment, before grabbing a wash cloth and the soap and beginning to wash his body. Once that was taken care of, he grabbed the shampoo and began to wash his hair, which he was seriously considering getting cut. A bit of teenage rebellion was the reason he'd let it grow out in the first place. His father was in the army, so he spent his childhood before they moved to Angel Grove moving from base to base and when his mother took him to the barber, he'd usually always ended up with a buzz cut.

Once he turned thirteen, however, his mom decided to give him more freedom to dress and groom himself however he wanted. One of the first things he did was to let his hair grow out, so that it was shoulder length by the time his father was promoted to Captain and stationed in Angel Grove on a permanent enough basis that they chose to buy a house in town, rather than live on the base. A part of him did kind of like the long hair, but as time passed, it was also becoming more of a nuisance because even when he tied it back, it had a tendency to whip around his head and get into his face while he was practicing certain martial arts moves. He'd also pulled a few strands out while taking off his ranger helmet recently, as they'd gotten caught in one the clasps, which had obviously hurt.

Rinsing the shampoo from his hair, Tommy stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and began drying off. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he blow dried his hair, looking at it and running his fingers through it as he did so. _**'Yeah, definitely time to cut it,'**_ he thought. Spying a scissors lying on the bathroom counter, he was half-tempted to take it and have at it. The only thing that stopped him from that was his complete lack of faith in his ability to cut his own hair and still have it look good. He did have a date with Adam tonight, after all, so he didn't want his hair to look like it was cut by a rank amateur. So, instead, he brushed it and tied it back, deciding to go to the barber after school tomorrow.

Going back out to his bedroom, he walked over to his dresser and grabbed underwear and socks, which he sat down on his bed to put on, before pulling on a nice pair of khaki pants and a white shirt. Once he was fully dressed, Tommy paused to put on a small dash of cologne, before leaving the room and going downstairs, where he found his mother sitting in the living room reading the newspaper. Looking her son over, Amelia Oliver smiled and said, "You look nice, son. Although, your hair is getting a bit too long."

Tommy nodded. "I know, Mom. I'm gonna get it cut, soon, but not tonight. I have a date."

Amelia smiled and said, "Oh, a date with that nice boy?" Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "What's his name again?"

Tommy grinned. He knew his mother remembered Adam's name, because her memory was like a steel trap. Once something went in it, it usually didn't leave. Being adopted, he obviously hadn't inherited anything from Amelia Oliver, but he certainly wished that her good memory would rub off on him, because than maybe he wouldn't be the butt off so many of his friend's jokes. Bad memory or not, however, that didn't mean he was totally oblivious and he knew his mom well enough to know that her asking his boyfriend's name was her way of telling him that she thought it was time he brought him over for a visit again. "It's Adam, but I know you knew that, Mom."

"You know me too well, Tommy," Amelia said with a smile. "Seriously, though you really need to bring him over here again sometime. I'll have your father throw some steaks on the grill and I'll make my triple chocolate mousse cake that you like so much. But only if you bring that cutey of yours over soon."

"Bribing me with cake," Tommy said with a shake of his head. He could only imagine how Adam would react if he were to tell him that his mom thought he was a 'cutey'.

"I do what works, son," Amelia said, as she stood up.

"Okay, I promise, I'll bring him over soon," Tommy said, as he hugged his mom. He had been terrified when he came out to his parents two years ago, as he really wasn't sure how they'd react to the news that their only child was gay. It was especially scary because of his dad being in the military, what with the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and Matthew Oliver's tendency to run the house with military efficiency. However, both of his parents had surprised him and accepted it, making it clear that they still loved him. They were a little worried that he'd have a harder life, due to the bigots in the world, but they knew that their son could take care of himself. Little did they know just how well he could take care of himself.

After a minute, Tommy pulled back and kissed his mom on the cheek, before he said, "I really need to be going, Mom."

"Where are you and Adam going anyway?"

"I'm taking him to that new Italian restaurant over on Mirabello and Main," Tommy answered. "And we were talking about maybe going to a movie afterwards." Okay, that wasn't actually true, as Adam's parents were out of town for the weekend and the actual plan was that after dinner, Tommy and Adam would go over to the Park house and take advantage of that to have some fun in Adam's bed. But, Tommy wasn't about to tell his mother that he was having sex with Adam. He liked to avoid discussing that topic with his parents if he could help it. So, he allowed them to believe that he was still a virgin, even if that hadn't actually been true for a couple of years already. Adam had not been his first, but he was the best as far as Tommy was concerned.

Amelia looked impressed. "That's not exactly a cheap place, son."

"I know, but I've been saving," Tommy said. He'd done a few odd jobs in between his ranger duties, plus his parents still gave him an allowance. He also made some money from the karate classes that he taught with Adam. Obviously they split what they made and it wouldn't make either of them rich, but since Ernie allowed them to use the Youth Center for their classes for free, they made a bit more than they would have if they'd had to rent space somewhere. Not that their parents were likely to allow them to open an actual dojo while they were still in high school. Of course, between their ranger duties and school, they really wouldn't have the time to do it, even if their parents let them.

Shaking her head, Amelia walked over to the hall table and grabbed her wallet from her purse, before she pulled out a bill and handed it to Tommy, "Here, take this."

Tommy's eyes widened as he saw what his mother was holding out: it was a hundred dollar bill. Shaking his head, he said, "Mom, that's way too much."

"Take it, Tommy, I insist," Amelia said. "You're such a good son, you deserve to have a fun night out with your boyfriend every now and then. Besides, your father took me to that restaurant last week and I can tell you that the food alone is going to cost you at least half this amount. Cheapest entree on the menu is eighteen dollars and I happen to know it's not something you'll eat. Knowing your tastes, if I remember correctly, the cheapest entree you'd actually be willing to eat is $24.95."

_**'Wow,'**_ Tommy thought. _**'Didn't realize the place was that expensive.'**_ The main reason he'd chosen it was because, well other than the fact that both he and Adam liked Italian food, he figured it wasn't a place that they were likely to run into a bunch of people they knew. That's not to say that he didn't like his friends or anything, but being rangers, he was with them almost all the time and sometimes one just needed time alone with that special someone. In terms of money, after paying a couple of bills, Tommy had managed to save just over sixty dollars, so as long as he and Adam didn't go overboard, he could afford it. Although he had to admit, with prices like that, he wouldn't mind having a little extra in his wallet just in case, because he didn't want Adam to have to pay anything for this date. That didn't mean that he wouldn't try, but Tommy was determined not to let him.

Still, a hundred dollars was a lot and he was hesitant to take it. "Mom..."

"Thomas David Oliver, not buts. Take it," Amelia said in her _'You had better do what I say or you will regret it_' voice. Tommy knew, from years of experience, that when his mother used his full name and spoke in that voice it was in his best interests to do as she said. While she was a very pretty and fashionable woman, who generally did not get angry, that didn't mean that she was a pushover.

On the contrary, she was quite formidable when she wanted to be. Not only had she picked up a few things over the years from her career military husband, but it was also from Amelia that Tommy had developed a love for the martial arts. For all of his training and the extra practice he'd gotten as a ranger, Tommy had only beaten his mother in a sparring match once. And while he'd never confirmed it, he had a sneaking suspicion that that was only because she'd let him win. Of course, like him, his mom had started training when she was seven, so she had thirty years of practice compared to Tommy's nine. Among the humans that he'd faced off against, Tommy ranked his mother in the top ten most difficult opponents he'd ever had.

Taking the money, Tommy pulled out his wallet and added it, before slipping it back into his back pocket. Taking out his car keys, he gave his mom a quick peck on the cheek and said, "Thanks, Mom, bye."

He was out the door before Amelia could respond. She just shook her head, an amused smile on her face, before she sat back down and resumed reading the paper.

-o-0-o-

On his way home from the locksmith, Zaidan stopped in at the Youth Center for a smoothie. They were honestly the best he'd ever tasted and he couldn't get enough of them. Sitting at the bar sipping his drink, he was alone for a little while, before he felt a presence behind him. Before he could react, however, a pair of hands went over his eyes and a voice whispered, "Guess who."

Zaidan knew perfectly well who it was, of course, but grinned as he asked, "Leonardo DiCaprio?"

"Cold," the voice said.

"Damn," Zaidan said, at which point the person behind him took one hand off of his eyes and lightly slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hmm, let's see here," Zaidan said, as he pretended to contemplate who was behind him. "Brad Pitt?"

Getting slapped on the shoulder again, slightly harder this time, Zaidan finally said, "Oh fine. Stop hitting me, Mr. DeSantos."

Coming around and taking a seat at the bar next to Zaidan, Rocky said, "Took you long enough."

Zaidan grinned and shook his head. "Oh please, I knew it was you all along. I was just messing with you."

"Whatever you say, Zaidan," Rocky said, the look on his face clearly saying he didn't believe the blond.

"Fine, don't believe me," Zaidan said with a shrug as he took a sip of his drink.

Rocky just shook his head and ordered a smoothie for himself before he asked, "So, what are you up to?"

"Having a smoothie on the way home from the locksmith," Zaidan answered.

"Locksmith?" Rocky asked, before he grinned and asked, "You lock yourself out of your house?"

Zaidan playfully hit Rocky in the shoulder and said, "No, Rocko, I didn't lock myself out. I'm not Tommy."

Rocky laughed as Ernie delivered his smoothie and went over to serve another customer. "So, why did you need to see a locksmith?"

"Had a couple duplicates of my house key made," Zaidan said. "I hired a live-in housekeeper and a landscaper, too, so they needed their own keys."

Rocky got a confused look on his face as he said, "I've heard of a live-in housekeeper, but a live-in landscaper?"

"Yeah, I know, sounds a little odd," Zaidan responded. "They're a couple. I needed a housekeeper and it so happened that the live-in boyfriend of the one I hired was a landscaper. They were a package deal."

Nodding, Rocky said, "Ah, okay. So how old is this woman and her boyfriend?"

Zaidan laughed and asked, "Who said it was a woman?"

"Well, I just assumed it was," Rocky replied, face flushing slightly.

"Assumptions are dangerous," Zaidan said. "Anyway, neither of them is female."

"A gay couple?"

Shaking his head, Zaidan said, "Yeah, a gay couple. I wanted a gay-friendly housekeeper, so, I think I should be safe. Would be pretty bad if my gay housekeeper and his equally gay boyfriend weren't gay-friendly."

Now it was Rocky's turn to laugh and said, "Yeah, you're right, that would be bad." Before he could say anything else, however, his watch alarm went off and he sighed. "Well, I gotta go, Zaidan. I'd rather stay here and talk with you, but I promised my mom I'd pick my younger brothers up from soccer practice."

"No problem," Zaidan said as he leaned over and gave Rocky a quick peck on the lips. "See you later."

"Later," Rocky said with a grin, before quickly finishing his smoothie and leaving.

Zaidan shook his head and couldn't help but think that sometimes Rocky was just as forgetful as Tommy was. He'd just left without paying for his smoothie. Pulling out his wallet, Zaidan pulled out enough money for two smoothies and gave it to Ernie, explaining he was paying for Rocky's too, before leaving himself.

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, up on the moon, Rita Repulsa had been watching the events unfolding in the Youth Center with interest.

"So, the red ranger has a boyfriend," Rita said, as her mind began working out a plan to use that knowledge against the rangers. "Squatt! Baboo!"

"Yes, your evilness?" Baboo asked.

"Take a group of putties and kidnap the red ranger's boyfriend," Rita ordered, as she used magic to create an image of Zaidan so her minions would know who they were kidnapping. "He just left the Youth Center and is headed for the coast on a purple motorcycle."

Squatt and Baboo nodded, as they disappeared along with a large group of putty patrollers.

-o-0-o-

Sixteen-year-old Billy Cranston was sitting in his bedroom going over some of his class notes while waiting anxiously for the phone to ring. Jason was due to be calling him soon and he was on pins and needles waiting for the call. So much so that he was having a hard time actually concentrating on the notes he was looking at, as the words were starting to blend together. Not that that would be a problem, because Billy understood the material covered in the notes, as they were for, in his opinion, one of his easier classes. He knew that most people would not consider AP Calculus to be easy, but Billy was not most people. No, the only reason he was looking over the notes was for something to do while waiting for Jason to call.

There were other things he could have been doing, but he wanted to be in his bedroom, behind a locked door, when Jason called. He was also smart enough to know that until he talked with Jason, his mind just wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. So, there wasn't much point in trying to work on any of his various experiments or inventions only to realize later that ninety percent of the work he'd done was crap and would have to be redone. No, it was best to just try and pass the time as best he could doing something that his distracted mindset couldn't mess up.

He had never felt the way he felt about Jason for anyone. It had started out as nothing more than friendship. They'd lived next door to one another when they were younger and became friends despite their differing personalities. Jason was always very athletic, while Billy was more of a bookworm. They just fit together though and helped each other out as best as they could. Jason would defend Billy whenever he was perceived to be a nerd by one of the school bullies and in return Billy helped Jason with his homework.

Eventually Billy's father got a big promotion at work and they moved to a nicer house on the opposite end of town from Jason, but it didn't end Billy and Jason's friendship. No, if anything, it got stronger, until finally things culminated in the two of them losing their virginity to one another one night when they were fourteen. They didn't immediately get together as a couple afterward, however, as Jason was struggling with his feelings at the time. For Billy it was easy. He'd known he was gay since he was ten. He had never mentioned it to Jason, though, for fear of losing him as a friend.

So, he was certainly surprised that night when they were fourteen, as it was Jason who'd made the first move. It wasn't quite as cut and dry for Jason, however, because he liked girls, but he couldn't deny that he found some boys, including Billy, to be very attractive. That was partially why Jason made the move on Billy. He suspected that his friend would be receptive and he wanted to explore the feelings he was having. Explaining the situation to Billy afterwards, Jason was happy that Billy understood. The blond genius understood that if anything long term was going to happen between them, then Jason needed time to sort out his feelings, and Billy was more than willing to give him that time.

It took a few months, almost a year actually, for Jason to sort everything out in his head. Of course, Rita showing up and Billy, Jason, and their friends becoming the rangers did get in the way, as Jason had less time to sort things out in his head. Although, in a way it also helped because seeing Billy in tight blue spandex all the time - well, let's just say it reconfirmed a few things in Jason's head. Once he'd finished sorting his complicated feelings and accepted them, things progressed much faster between Jason and Billy. They did not immediately jump into bed again, however, regardless of the fact that their overactive teenage hormones were wishing they would.

One of the things that Jason had realized in the time he'd spent sorting things out was that he loved Billy as more than just a friend. He really wanted things to work out between them as a long-term couple and Jason was afraid that if they had sex too soon, even though they'd already done it once, that it would have a negative effect on their future chances. So, Jason resisted the urge to jump his friend and contented himself to just spending time with him. With Rita around there wasn't much time for Jason to make grand romantic plans, but he and Billy did get a few dates in here and there. Finally, on the night they finally made love again, and that is what it was in both of their minds, they knew that each other was the only thing they wanted.

Billy's train of thought was interrupted as his phone rang. It was a private line, so, the only phone connected to it was in Billy's bedroom and thus he wasn't worried about anyone else answering it before him. That didn't mean, however, that he took his time about it, as he practically shot out of his desk chair and towards the phone at light speed. The phone had just barely begun ringing for the second time when Billy answered. "Hello?"

_"Hey Bill,"_ Jason's voice said.

"Jase," Billy said as he sat down on his bed. "I was hoping it was you."

_"Were you now?"_ Jason asked.

"Affirmative," Billy said. "I miss you voluminously."

_"Voluminously, huh?"_ Jason asked and Billy didn't need to physically see his boyfriend to know that he was grinning. Jason's vocabulary had greatly expanded by the time that he and Billy officially became an item and continued to do so the longer they were together. It was to the point that most of their friends had stopped looking to Trini and instead looked to Jason to translate for them when they didn't understand something that the blue ranger had said. Of course, there were still times that Trini needed to help Jason because expanded vocabulary or not, even he still had the occasional difficulty with his boyfriend's tech speak, which they'd all affectionately named Billy-speak.

"Indeed," Billy confirmed. "Do you miss me?"

_"Of course, I do,"_ Jason said. _"That's a silly question. I almost wish I hadn't signed up for the peace conference because I miss you like crazy, Bill."_

"It's a fabulous opportunity," Billy argued.

_"Yes, but it would have been better if you'd been picked to come with me,"_ Jason countered. _"Trini and Zack are great and I'm glad they're with me, but, they're not you."_

Billy understood where his boyfriend was coming from, as the long distance was not something that either of them particularly enjoyed. "True, but, it will look good on your college applications."

_"I know, although I hope I can get into a college within driving distance of MIT,"_ Jason said. _"Cause I have no illusions about getting in myself and I know you want to go there. I also don't wanna do this long-distance thing ever again - when this peace conference is over, I'm never letting you out of my sight."_

"Me either," Billy agreed. "And don't sell yourself short, Jase, you're a very smart person."

_"That's mainly from hanging out with you all these years,"_ Jason said. Before Billy could say anything about the self-deprecating remark, Jason changed the subject by asking, _"Anyway, what's going on there? Anything interesting?"_

Even though they tried to talk on the phone every day, they didn't always succeed, what with Billy's ranger duties and the various lectures and meetings that Jason had to attend in Geneva. And in Jason's case, this was on top of having to get all of his regular class work done, which took a bit longer than it used to simply because he didn't have Billy around to help him. Trini was an acceptable replacement in that department, but Jason much preferred his boyfriend obviously. This was the first time in a couple of days they'd managed to talk, so, Billy hadn't filled Jason in about recent developments yet.

"Well, there's a new student in school named Zaidan Prince," Billy said. "We've all been spending time with him - Rocky, more so than the rest of us."

_"Really?"_ Jason asked, intrigued. _"Does that mean Rocko finally got himself a boyfriend?"_

"Well I'm not sure they're at that point yet," Billy answered. "We haven't known Zaidan all that long, less than a week, but he and Rocky have really hit it off. Once they found out they were both gay, they've been practically inseparable."

_"Cool,"_ Jason said. _"I'm happy for Rocky."_ Jason was silent for a moment, before he said, _"So, Bill, what are you wearing?"_

Billy grinned at the direction he had a feeling this conversation was about to take. He definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, he'd been hoping the conversation would take this turn - enough so that he'd gotten ready for it ahead of time. A mischievous tone slipped into Billy's voice as he answered, "My glasses and a smile."

_"Ooh - hot,"_ Jason said. _"I so wish I could see you right now."_

"So do I," Billy returned. "What about you?"

_"The red bikinis you got me for my birthday,"_ Jason replied, as he recalled opening the birthday present that Billy had insisted had to be opened in private. He hadn't understood why until he opened them and saw what was in the box. He'd blushed redder than his ranger suit, especially after Billy convinced him to put them on and look at himself in the mirror. They were tight and left nothing to the imagination - definitely not something that Jason would normally have picked for himself, but then that's exactly why Billy had chosen them. Well and also because he liked seeing the brunet in tight-fitting clothing and he was pretty sure that asking Jason to morph so that he could see him in his spandex ranger suit was probably against the rules. They weren't supposed to use their powers for personal gain, after all, and Billy couldn't see any way that actually using their powers to act out their sexual fantasies could be seen as anything other than personal gain.

"Oh God," Billy said. "Now I really wish I could see you."

_"I'll just bet you do,"_ Jason said. _"You getting hard yet?"_

"Most assuredly," Billy replied, as he lied down, so that he was lying flat on his bed. "You?"

_"Getting there,"_ Jason said. _"Thinking about you in just your glasses? How could I not?"_

"Well, we'll have to remedy that," Billy said in a low, seductive voice that was almost a growl, which sent shivers of pleasure down Jason's spine. "If I was there with you, Jase, I'd be licking you behind your left ear. You're so sensitive there - just the thought of licking you there as you buck upwards and press your cock into mine is making me even harder."

_"Oh you definitely know the right things to say, Bill,"_ Jason returned in a soft voice. _"Can I take these things off now? They're getting uncomfortably tight."_

"Not quite yet," Billy returned. "Grab your nipples and pinch them - make them get hard like your cock."

"Okkaayy," Jason said, drawing out the word a bit, as he shifted in his desk chair a bit in a vain attempt to adjust the growing bulge in his underwear. He then moved so that he was holding the phone between his right ear and shoulder, while he reached up with his right hand and began pinching one of his nipples.

Billy could hear Jason's moans, so he knew his boyfriend had done as he'd been told. Billy was pinching his own nipples, as he said, "Now stick a finger in your mouth and get it wet - then move it around behind your left ear and pretend it's my tongue."

Once Billy had learned just how sensitive Jason was behind his left ear, he'd begun kissing and licking him there as often as possible, so Jason had little trouble imagining that his finger was Billy's tongue. Moving it around behind his ear, probing in the same pattern that the blond often used, Jason could feel himself getting painfully hard, as both his cock and nipples began reacting to the stimulus. _"Oh, Billy, I'm so hard."_

"Good," Billy said, as he moved one hand slowly down from his nipples, trailing it over his abs, as he pretended it was Jason doing it. "Keep fingering yourself behind your ear, but take your other hand and trail it down your chest and abs - slowly."

_"Oh, Billy,"_ Jason moaned out as he moved his hand as Billy told him to, all the while pretending that it was the blond doing it.

"When you reach your waistband," Billy said, "slip your hand inside and pretend it's my hand cupping your dick - give it a good squeeze."

It took a few moments, but Jason was soon letting out a guttural moan over the phone that made Billy smile. "Do you enjoy my hand on your dick?"

_"Y-yes,"_ Jason moaned out, as he squeezed his dick several times, enjoying the throbbing sensation as images of Billy danced in his mind's eye. _"Oh, Billy..."_

"I love it when you moan my name, Jase," Billy said, as he reached over to his nightstand and grabbed the bottle of lube he'd set out earlier. Opening it with one hand, he squirted a few drops onto his erection and set the bottle back on the nightstand before wrapping his hand firmly around his cock. "I've got my hand around my lubed cock now, Jase - I'm stroking myself, nice and slow - methodically - pretending it's you."

_"Billy, oh, God Billy, please..."_ Jason moaned.

"Are you sitting down?" Billy asked, knowing that Jason often sat in the chair at his desk while they chatted on the phone - usually with his computer powered up because Jason had opted to use a picture of Billy as his desktop wallpaper.

"Yes," came Jason's breathy reply.

"Stay sitting," Billy commanded, "but pull your cock out of your underwear."

Happy to get his straining erection out of the confining cotton prison, Jason quickly did as he was bid, as Billy continued speaking in a sultry voice, "Now put some lube on your cock and wrap your hand around it. Start pumping yourself like I'm doing to myself."

Jason's hand was soon wrapped around his slick dick, moving up and down in the same, slow motion that Billy had used on him so many times in the past. "I'm pumping my dick, Jase, pretending it's your strong hand gripping me... are you doing the same?"

_"Yes, Billy, oh yes,"_ Jason moaned out. _"I so wish you were here."_

"I wish I was too," Billy said. "If I was, it would be my mouth on your cock, moving up and down, slow and sensual, as I played with your balls. Can you imagine me doing that, Jase?"

All Jason could do was moan as he imagined just that.

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, Tommy and Adam had finished dinner at the new Italian place and Tommy was grateful that his Mom had given him the extra money. Between their appetizer, drinks, entrees, dessert, sales tax, and the gratuity the restaurant added automatically to all checks the total bill was just over seventy-one dollars. So, if it hadn't been for the money his Mom had given him, Tommy would have spent all of the money he'd saved and had no choice but to allow Adam to help with the bill. The black ranger had certainly tried to do just that, of course, but Tommy insisted, managing to surprise Adam when he pulled the hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and laid it on the little tray the waitress had brought their check on, along with a pair of after dinner mints.

"Where'd you get that?" Adam asked, shocked, while they waited for the change.

Tommy knew that Adam would pick up on it if he tried to lie, so he opted to tell the truth. "Mom gave it to me." Then with a mischievous smirk on his face, he added, "After she told me I needed to bring you over sometime soon - called you a cutey."

Adam blushed at that, but didn't say anything as the waitress returned with the change at that moment. Leaving the restaurant, they got into Tommy's jeep and headed straight for the Park house, which was blissfully empty with Mr. and Mrs. Park out of town for the weekend. Getting inside they were almost immediately kissing as they headed up the stairs to Adam's bedroom, leaving behind a trail of clothes. By the time they collapsed on the Korean boy's bed, they were completely naked, their lips never leaving the other's for a second.

Continuing to kiss each other passionately, as their hands moved over the other's skin, exploring every inch, Tommy was soon on top of Adam, and pushing his hips downward into Adam's, sending pleasurable sensations throughout their bodies as their hardened cocks rubbed together. After a few more minutes, they finally broke their kiss, as the annoying need for air finally got the best of them. They remained in each other's arms, however, with Adam massaging the small of Tommy's back with one hand, while he ran his other hand through Tommy's hair.

"I've decided to get my hair cut you know," Tommy said. "It's just too long - keeps getting in the way."

Adam nodded, as he knew about the hair in the helmet clasp incident, as he said, "That's fine, just don't get it cut too short - I like running my fingers through it."

"Don't worry," Tommy said. "I got mostly buzz cuts as a kid, so, I have no intention of going that short. I'm just sick of the ponytail whipping around my head and into my eyes during practice."

"I can see how that would be annoying," Adam said and grinned as one of Tommy's hands found its way to his cock and began squeezing it, as his other hand began playing with his balls. Adam was in heaven. At least until a beeping noise could suddenly be heard in the otherwise quiet room.

"No," Tommy and Adam both groaned, as Tommy's head moved forward and rested against Adam's for a moment.

"Damn you, Rita," Adam groaned out, as he reached over to his nightstand and grabbed one of the communicators that was lying there. He didn't know if it was Tommy's or his, as they'd both taken them off and set them on the nightstand at some point during their make out session. Pressing the talk button, he said, "This is Adam - what's up, Alpha?"

"Rangers, you need to come to the command center as quickly as possible," Alpha said. "Rita has kidnapped your friend Zaidan."

Both Tommy's and Adam's eyes widened at that, as they briefly wondered how Alpha even knew Zaidan's name, but didn't comment on that, as they both got off the bed and scrambled to get dressed before teleporting to the command center.

-o-0-o-

Minutes later, Tommy and Adam arrived to find Rocky already present, while Alpha stood at a nearby console contacting the other rangers. Looking over the viewing globe, Tommy and Adam could see a large group of putties surrounding Zaidan's motorcycle. Having always been good at reading people, Adam can see the confusion in Zaidan's eyes, which were visible through the open visor of his motorcycle helmet. It seems the putties showing up and surrounding him caught him completely off guard. Using that to their advantage, Zaidan was soon restrained, with four or five putties hanging onto each of his arms, at which point Squatt and Baboo appeared. Shortly thereafter, they disappeared again, along with Zaidan and the putties, leaving the teen's motorcycle abandoned in the middle of the street.

Before anyone could say anything, Billy teleported into the command center in a streak of blue and Adam's keen eye couldn't help but notice that despite the obvious distress on his face over the kidnapping of their new friend, he also had an unmistakable gleam in his eye. The type of gleam one only got from being sexually sated.

_**'Probably had phone sex with Jason again,'**_ Adam thought mutinously. _**'Damn it, Rita, you couldn't have waited an hour?'**_

If someone could hear Adam's thoughts, one might almost think he didn't care that Zaidan had been kidnapped. That was completely untrue because Adam did care. However, he was also a sexually frustrated teenager. And this wasn't the first time that the communicator had beeped in the middle of Adam trying to have some private time with Tommy. It's only natural that he'd get a little frustrated after awhile.

Once everyone was present, Zordon said, "Rangers, as Alpha has already told you, Rita has captured your friend Zaidan. According to our scans, he's being held in Rita's dark dimension."

"Why would she want to kidnap Zaidan?" Kim asked.

"Well, he's a good martial artist," Tommy hypothesized. "Maybe she's going to try and make another evil ranger?"

"It's possible," Billy agreed. "Although it's also possible that she's trying to get at us through him. That's even more likely if she's realized that Rocky and Zaidan are dating."

"I don't care why she took him," Rocky said, his tone impatient. "We have to get him back!"

"I agree, Rocky," Aisha said. "But how?"

"Billy, you created a device to get into the dark dimension, right?" Tommy asked.

Billy nodded and said, "Affirmative. Originally, it was only powerful enough to get one ranger through, however, I have since made some modifications and I postulate that it could get three of us into Rita's dark dimension to rescue Zaidan."

"What are we waiting for?" Rocky exclaimed. "Let's go then!"

"Whoa, slow down, Rocko," Tommy said. "We've got a problem."

"What's that, Tommy?" Kim asked.

"Zaidan would recognize all of our voices," Tommy said.

"That's true, he would," Billy said, as his brow creased in thought. "It was before Rocky, Adam, and Aisha arrived, but there was a time when we had to rescue Jason's cousin Jeremy from one of Rita's monsters. When the monster was dealt with and we checked to make sure Jeremy was safe, Jason made a point of remaining silent, as his cousin would undoubtedly recognize his voice. Kim, Trini, Zack, Tommy, and I hadn't spent any time with Jeremy at that point, so, we could talk to him safely, but that isn't the case this time. Zaidan has spent enough time with all of us that if he hears our voices, he's sure to recognize them."

"So we simply don't talk!" Rocky exclaimed, as he turned imploring eyes at Zordon and added, "We can't just leave Zaidan to Rita's mercy because we're afraid of revealing who we are."

Before Zordon could say anything, Adam said, "Rocky, I understand that you're worried about Zaidan. I am too, but you know the rules. We can't let anyone know we're the rangers and that includes Zaidan."

"So, we should just leave him there?!" Rocky demanded.

Tommy shook his head, "Nobody is suggesting that, Rocky. However, we can't just go rushing in without a plan."

"And whatever plan we do come up with," Billy added, "it has to include some means of overcoming the voice recognition issue. It's unlikely that we'd be able to try and rescue Zaidan and completely avoid talking in his presence."

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, Zaidan woke up on the what felt like a cold stone floor, with a thick fog surrounding him. He'd been relieved of his motorcycle helmet and he had a distinct throbbing pain in the back of his head, as if he'd been knocked unconscious. Struggling for a moment to get his bearings, he stood up and looked around at the golden bars that surrounded him and asked, "Where the hell am I?"

"You're in the Dark Dimension," a deep voice said and Zaidan spun around and came face to face with a creature that looked like some kind of ugly monkey wearing golden armor.

"Who are you?"

"Goldar," the creature answered. "Faithful servant of Rita Repulsa."

_**'Rita?'**_ Zaidan thought. _**'Great, just great. What could she possibly want with me? Although, on second thought, something tells me I really don't want to know.'**_

Giving Goldar a look that he hoped conveyed the fact that he wasn't scared, Zaidan said, "Well, as much as I'd love to stay, I really do need to be going now."

"You're not going anywhere," Goldar said.

"Really? And who's going to stop me? You?"

Pulling out his sword and pointing it at Zaidan's throat, Goldar said, "I suggest you close your mouth - before I close it for you."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Zaidan asked with a smirk. "You'll have to do better than that because I really don't scare easily."

Before Goldar could comment or react, Zaidan flipped backwards out of the reach of the sword and ducked down into the thick fog near the floor, obscuring himself from view.

"You think you can hide from me?" Goldar said.

"Yeah, I do," Zaidan said, successfully throwing his voice so that it sounded like it was coming from the opposite side of the room. When Goldar moved to investigate, he turned his back to Zaidan, at which point the blond teen jumped up and hit the armored monkey in the back with a hurricane kick. Not expecting it, Goldar stumbled but remained on his feet as he turned to face Zaidan, who'd adopted a fighting stance.

"So you're a martial artist," Goldar said. "Pity that won't help you."

Goldar and Zaidan fought for a moment, with Goldar quickly gaining the upper hand, despite Zaidan's best efforts. Backing him into a corner, Goldar lunged forward and grabbed Zaidan's throat, lifting him up in the air and pinning him against a wall as he said, "Understand this, you pathetic little human - I can finish you off anytime I want. Fighting me won't get you anywhere but an early grave."

Gasping for breath, Zaidan realized that if he was going to get out of this, he'd have to take drastic measures. Raising his hands towards Goldar's chest, Zaidan concentrated for a moment, before small arcs of lightning shot out of his fingertips, hitting Goldar in the chest and stunning him enough that he let go of Zaidan. Dropping to his feet, Zaidan looked smug, as he looked at Goldar and taunted him, "Oh really? I'd like to see you try."

Before Goldar could say anything, Zaidan raised his hands again and more lightning shot out of his fingertips to hit Goldar, as he said, "As you can see, I'm not as weak as you thought."

Goldar laid cowering on the floor for a moment, before he teleported himself away to escape from Zaidan's onslaught. Zaidan smiled, although only briefly, before he heard another voice.

"My, my Mr. Prince, you are full of surprises, aren't you?" Turning around, Zaidan came face to face with the woman he'd up until now only seen in news reports - Rita Repulsa. Buoyed by his success over Goldar, Zaidan raised his hands and more lightning poured from his fingertips, heading straight for Rita, only she was obviously ready as she moved her wand to intercept Zaidan's attack, before sending one of her own, which sent Zaidan flying backwards against a wall. "That might have worked on Goldar, but it won't work on me, boy. You may have some small degree of magical power, but you're a rank amateur in comparison to me."

Before Zaidan could react, he found himself restrained against the wall and try as he might, he couldn't summon even the smallest bit of the power that coursed through his veins. In fact, he was finding it harder and harder to even feel the power any longer, leading him to believe that Rita's restraints were either blocking his powers or leeching them out of his body.

After a moment of silence, Rita said, "I will enjoy studying you, Mr. Prince, as there is obviously more to you than meets the eye. Luckily for you, it's time for my beauty sleep, so you'll get a reprieve for now, but when I wake I will begin studying you. And if you think simply having your power blocked is uncomfortable, just wait until you begin feeling it used against you."

Rita laughed at the look of terror now clearly visible on Zaidan's face, before she disappeared, leaving Zaidan shackled to the wall.

-o-0-o-

"How are we going to deal with this?" Kim asked.

"Voice distorters?" Aisha asked.

Billy shook his head. "A good idea, but difficult to implement. A voice distorter would mask our voices, but it would have to be placed inside of our helmets to be effective. I've run some simulations on doing it, but I've never managed to find the right calibration to make them work for any length of time. As of now, any distorter would be shorted out and destroyed within seconds by our own powers."

"Any chance you could find the right calibration?" Tommy asked. "In say five minutes or less?"

"Negative," Billy said. "I'm a genius, not a miracle worker."

All was silent for a few moments, as the rangers stood around contemplating what to do. Looking over at Rocky, who was pacing restlessly and looking like he was about ready to punch something, the other rangers knew this was upsetting him the most. While it was certainly true that they hadn't known Zaidan for very long, it was clear that Rocky had really taken a shine to him. Of course, his friends weren't all that surprised because they all knew that Rocky had been lonely before Zaidan arrived. True, he hadn't been without friends, but he'd also been surrounded by happy couples in the form of Jason and Billy and Tommy and Adam. Kim and Aisha had tried to keep Rocky company a couple of times, but there's only so much that two straight girls can do to alleviate the romantic loneliness of their gay male friend. Mainly try to take his mind off of it and make him think of something else, which wasn't always easy.

"Damn it, we've gotta do something!" Rocky exclaimed.

After another moment of silence, Adam looked up and said, "What about the former rangers?"

"What do you mean, Adam?" Tommy asked.

"Jason, Zack, and Trini," Adam replied. "They still have their power coins, don't they? They were just duplicated for Rocky, Aisha, and me. If they could temporarily reclaim their powers, couldn't they go rescue Zaidan?"

"Of course," Billy said. "They left for the peace conference before Zaidan came to town. He's never heard their voices and thus wouldn't recognize them."

"Would it be possible Zordon?" Kim asked. "They still have their communicators."

Zordon remained quiet for a moment, as he contemplated the suggestion, before nodding and saying, "It would be possible for them to temporarily reclaim their powers, if they're willing to do so."

"I know Jason would help," Billy said. "If he's needed, there'd be no question in his mind."

"So would the others, I think," Tommy said. "So, I say it's worth a shot."

Billy had switched Jason's, Zack's, and Trini's communicators to a secondary channel before they left, so that there communicators wouldn't go off every time the active rangers' did, but, they were still contactable in case of an emergency. So, switching the communications array to the secondary channel, Billy pressed the button that would make the former rangers' communicators beep. Then all they could do was stand back and hope one of them called in soon.

They didn't have to wait long, as Jason's voice came over the communications array. "Zordon, Alpha, this is Jason. Is something wrong?"

Raising his communicator to his lips, Tommy said, "Bro, it's good to hear your voice. Can you round up Zack and Trini? We've got a problem and could use your help."

"Sure, we were just sitting down for dinner," Jason said. After another moment, Jason said, "Got them."

Zack's voice came over the array at this point as he said, "What's up?" before Trini asked, "How can we help?"

"Rangers, stand clear of any witnesses," Zordon instructed. "Alpha will teleport you back here and we'll explain."

Once the three former rangers indicated that they were in a secluded corner with nobody around, Alpha locked onto their communicator signals and teleported them, as the three of them left Geneva in three identical streams of white light. Seconds later, they were back in the command center and quick greetings were exchanged. Well, some quicker than others, because as soon as Jason's eyes met Billy's the two teens crossed the room and pulled each other into a passionate kiss. They hadn't seen each other in person in weeks, after all, so they were definitely happy to see one another.

Zordon gave the two teens a moment to get reacquainted before clearing his throat. Jason and Billy broke off their kiss and Jason turned his attention to Zordon, although he left one arm wrapped around Billy's waist, as one of the blue ranger's hands slipped into the back pocket of Jason's jeans.

"Rangers," Zordon said, looking at Zack, Trini, and Jason, "Rita has kidnapped a new friend of the other rangers and is holding him in her Dark Dimension. We don't know if she plans on making a new evil ranger or if she's simply trying to use him to get to the rangers."

"New friend?" Jason asked. "Is this that guy you mentioned on the phone earlier, Bill?"

Billy nodded. "Yes, his name is Zaidan Prince. We've all been hanging out with him, but he's particularly close with Rocky - they've started dating."

Trini immediately walked over to Rocky and pulled the clearly agitated teen into a comforting embrace, as she asked, "What can we do to help?"

"Billy has modified his dimensional transporter," Tommy explained. "He can get three rangers into Rita's Dark Dimension to rescue Zaidan - problem is, he'd recognize our voices."

Adam nodded. "And it's unlikely that we'd be able to rescue him without saying anything."

"But he's never met any of you," Aisha explained, "so, he wouldn't recognize your voices."

"The three of you are still in possession of your power coins," Zordon explained. "If you're willing, we can temporarily transfer your old powers back to you and you can then journey to the Dark Dimension and rescue Mr. Prince."

As Billy had suspected, almost immediately Jason nodded and said, "I'm in."

"Part of me has missed being an active ranger," Zack commented, before he grinned and added, "Count me in."

Trini rubbed Rocky's back and said in a soothing tone, "Don't worry, Rocky, we'll get him back for you."

Rocky nodded, but didn't say anything. He was just glad that something was finally going to be done to help Zaidan. He hated the thought of his blond Adonis being in Rita's clutches. He wasn't really sure if he believed in love at first sight, but he did know that he'd felt a pain in his heart the likes of which he'd never felt before as soon as he'd found out that Zaidan had been taken.

"Then we shall begin the power transfer immediately," Zordon said, as which point the rangers all nodded and morphed, before the Sword of Light appeared in Tommy's hands. As he'd done a few weeks previously when the powers had been transferred the first time, Tommy held the sword high above his head, as Zordon directed twin beams of energy into the sword. Moments later, three additional streams of light, in red, black, and yellow shot over to Jason, Zack and Trini as the familiar power began to flow back into their bodies.

Rocky, Adam, and Aisha's suits flickered a bit during this process, but they remained in their morphed forms. They could all, however, feel a distinct decrease in their power levels and knew that the majority of their powers had been transferred back to their original owners. While none of them voiced it, they could now all understand how Jason, Zack, and Trini must have felt when their powers were transferred, as getting a taste of the power and then losing it, left the three of them feeling as if a significant part of their very beings was missing.

"We need to be out in the open to use the dimensional transporter," Billy said. "The park will suffice - let's just hope that Rita doesn't catch on to what we're doing."

The rangers nodded as Tommy said, "Back to action," and the original team teleported out, leaving Adam, Rocky, and Aisha behind. Taking of their helmets, the three friends leaned against nearby consoles as they settled in to watch and wait. Adam also laid a hand on Rocky's shoulder, as Aisha pulled him into a hug, both hoping that the closeness of two of his oldest friends would help him.

-o-0-o-

Of course, as the rangers would soon learn, it was definitely asking for too much to think that Rita wouldn't find out what they were doing. Although, in truth, she didn't know yet, as it had been Goldar who had been looking through Rita's telescope and spied the rangers in the park setting up the devices that would allow them to open a portal into the dark dimension. Wanting to try and redeem himself in Rita's eyes after he'd been forced to flee the dark dimension to escape Zaidan's magical attack, Goldar headed down to Earth, along with Scorpina and a large group of putties.

"Not so fast, Rangers," Goldar said. "Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

"We'd hoped it would be," Tommy said, as he fell into a fighting stance, along with Kimberly, Jason, and Zack, while Trini and Billy stayed behind to guard the device that would open the portal into the dark dimension. They couldn't afford to have it damaged or else Zaidan might be trapped.

Back at the command center, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam watched as the battle began. After a few minutes Rocky said, "We've gotta help them."

"That is unadvisable, Rocky," Zordon said.

"We can handle the putties," Rocky argued.

"It isn't just the putties though," Aisha pointed out. "It's also Goldar and Scorpina."

"Without your full powers to protect you," Zordon warned, "any attacks from Goldar and Scorpina that hit any of you would have a much higher chance of causing serious injury. You would also find using any of your powers to be impossible at the moment, as you've only retained the bare minimum of power to keep your uniforms on. They won't provide any protection, however, and calling for your weapons wouldn't work as you don't have enough power to wield them."

"We don't need to wield our weapons," Rocky said. "The three of us could just stay back and guard the portal device - that way Trini and Billy could join the others and fight Goldar, Scorpina and the putties."

Walking over to a console, Alpha said, "With some adjustments to the power amplifier, I should be able to enable you to use your blade blasters at least."

Seeing the determined looks on the three teens' faces, Zordon sighed and said, "Very well, Alpha make the adjustments." Rocky, Adam, and Aisha took this as a sign that they could go, so they put their helmets back on and were soon teleported to the park, appearing next to Trini and Billy.

"Zordon sent us to help," Adam explained. "We'll guard this."

"Yeah, we've got this," Rocky said. "Go fight the others."

"Just try to keep Goldar and Scorpina off of us," Aisha added.

Billy and Trini nodded as they left the device in the hands of their friends and joined the other rangers in the fight.

Scorpina was the first to notice the abnormality. "What's this? Two red, yellow, and black rangers?"

"That's right Scorpina," Kimberly said as she jumped into the air and fired an arrow from her bow at the golden clad female.

Scorpina barely managed to avoid the arrow and screamed in frustration as she said, "You'll pay for that, pink ranger."

The fight continued for several minutes, with Tommy and Jason doing their best to keep Goldar occupied, while Zack and Kimberly concentrated on Scorpina. Billy and Trini, meanwhile, were fighting the putties, with some help from Adam, Rocky, and Aisha as the three of them had taken out their blasters and would fire at a putty whenever they had a clear shot. They remained crouched next to the portal device, however, not wanting any of the enemies to get close enough to try and sabotage it.

After a few more minutes, all of the putties were on the ground and Tommy shouted over to Jason, "Bring 'em together."

"Right," Jason said, as Zack, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, and him brought their weapons together to form the power blaster. Of course, Goldar and Scorpina teleported away before the rangers could fire, at which point the downed putties disappeared as well.

Running back over to the portal device, Billy set about opening the portal as Rocky, Adam, and Aisha teleported back to the command center so that they wouldn't be seen by Zaidan when he emerged from the portal. Once the portal was open, Jason, Trini, and Zack entered the portal. Scanning the area, they quickly found Zaidan restrained against the wall. Trini took out her daggers and used them to break the restraints, causing Zaidan to fall forward, being caught by Jason and Zack before he could hit the floor. Not wanting to spend any more time in the dark dimension than necessary, in case Goldar, Scorpina, or worse Rita, came to stop them trying to take Zaidan, the three rangers quickly got him through the portal and back to Angel Grove.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

Zaidan coughed, but nodded. "A little weak, but yeah." After a moment, he realized who he was talking to and said, "Wow, never expected to meet the rangers up close and personal. Then again I never expected Rita to kidnap me either."

"Do you have any idea why she did?" Trini asked.

Zaidan shook his head. "No, I don't. All I remember is the putties surrounding me on my way home and the next thing I know I was waking up in that prison and Rita was restraining me against a wall."

He opted to leave out his use of magic to defeat Goldar, as he wasn't ready to share his secrets with anyone yet and that included the power rangers. He figured it wasn't necessarily for them to know anyway, because he was determined to not allow himself to be so caught off guard a second time.

"We'll take you back to your bike," Zack said, as he grabbed onto Zaidan's left arm as Jason grabbed onto his right.

"Thanks," Zaidan said, before the three of them teleported out, in streams of black, white, and red. The other rangers, meanwhile, returned to the command center to tell Rocky, Adam, and Aisha that Zaidan was safe.

-o-0-o-

"You fools!" Rita screamed after she'd woken up and found out what had happened, at which point she promptly began hitting Goldar, Scorpina, Squatt, and Baboo over their heads, repeatedly, with her wand. "You can't do anything right!"

"We didn't do anything," Squatt protested.

"It was Goldar and Scorpina's fault!" Baboo added.

Rita didn't seem to hear them as she continued hitting them. "You've all failed me again! My beautiful plan to get at the rangers ruined." When she finally stopped hitting her minions, she scrunched up her face and cried out, "Oh, I have such a headache!"

-o-0-o-

To be continued.

So, there you have Chapter 3 of 'Breaking the Cycle'. I hope you enjoyed it. I do apologize for the long wait between chapters, but I've been dealing with a lot recently, not the least of which is my mother-in-law's battle with cancer. So, writing hasn't been my top priority as of late. It doesn't help that I have multiple stories that need my attention, forcing me to split my already limited writing time between them. Anyway, what did you think of the chapter? What's up with Zaidan having magic? Is that the secret that he's keeping from the rangers? Or is there more to it than that? I'd love to hear what you're all thinking.

Pictures of Zaidan, his house, and a few others can be found in the 'Breaking the Cycle' photo album on my Yahoo group at: group/storiesbyjayson/. You can also follow me on Twitter JVascardi for updates on my writing progress.


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